The American Immigration Council does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. We aim to provide analysis regarding the implications of the election on the U.S. immigration system.

Today, the Senate failed to achieve the 60 votes necessary to achieve cloture on the DREAM Act, a bill to grant hundreds of thousands of undocumented children a chance to gain legal status if they enroll in college or join the military. 55 Senators voted in favor of the motion to proceed to the final vote on DREAM and 41 against.

The vote broke largely along partly lines with Senate Republicans citing procedural arguments to excuse themselves from voting yes.  However, some Democrats abandoned their party and voted against it too, while some Republicans broke ranks and voted for cloture.

Talking Points Memo tracked the votes and those who crossed party lines both ways:

Republican Sens. Dick Lugar (IN), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Kit Bond (MO), and Bob Bennett (UT) voted yes on cloture. Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor (AR), Jon Tester (MT), Ben Nelson (NE), Kay Hagan (NC), and Max Baucus (MT) all voted no.

However, student activists have vowed to continue to fight. The United States Student Association, the country’s oldest and largest student-led organization, represents over 4.5 million students at over 400 campuses across the nation sent out a press release after the vote noting:

Undeterred by the vote, young people will continue fighting for immigrant youth justice by gearing up for what will most likely be a difficult 112th Congress.

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