Edward Schumacher-Matos: The Dream Act Joins a Shameful Tradition
[Edward Schumacher-Matos writes for the WaPo.]
In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. It forced most Native Americans in the Deep South to move to Oklahoma in what became known as the "trail of tears and death."
Then in 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law. It required federal law enforcement officials to arrest any black person in the North that a Southern slaveholder declared as his. Blacks were forcibly shipped south under the law....
And now it has happened again. History surely will not look kindly on the 35 Republicans and six Democrats in the Senate who on Saturday killed the Dream Act, which would have saved from deportation hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrant youths who are here through no fault of their own but who go to college or join the military....
Read entire article at WaPo
Then in 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law. It required federal law enforcement officials to arrest any black person in the North that a Southern slaveholder declared as his. Blacks were forcibly shipped south under the law....
And now it has happened again. History surely will not look kindly on the 35 Republicans and six Democrats in the Senate who on Saturday killed the Dream Act, which would have saved from deportation hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrant youths who are here through no fault of their own but who go to college or join the military....