DREAM Act sputters as GOP takes over

Politico -- December 7

U.S. Senator Orin Hatch (R-Utah) Pictured above:

To see how dramatically the immigration debate has shifted, look no further than Orrin Hatch. The Utah Republican was the chief sponsor of the DREAM Act when it was first introduced in the Senate in 2001 and, later, in 2003. But now, worried about a potential tea party challenge in 2012, Hatch is steering clear of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.
On Wednesday, immigrant advocates who have been engaged in this fight for nearly a decade will very likely see the DREAM Act sputter again with a feeble lame-duck vote. And with it, any chance for broader immigration reform may be dead for the foreseeable future -- potentially for years. [...]
It's a remarkable turnaround from four years ago, when a Republican president and a Republican Congress pushed to liberalize immigration and create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. But chastened by a grass-roots movement against illegal immigration, Republicans taking control of the House are lurching in the opposite direction, drafting a series of border security and enforcement bills cracking down on illegal immigration for 2011.
American Patrol Report