The Dream Act 2025 is reintroduced with bipartisan support

Twenty four years later, the hope for the legalization of people who were brought up to the U.S. as children – many of them already professionals or in higher education – has been revived with the reintroduction of the Dream Act of 2025.

The legislation, reintroduced on a bipartisan basis by the U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (IL) and Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK), would allow noncitizens without lawful status who were brought to the United States as children to reside here legally.

Eligible recipients have to meet certain education, military service or work requirements to earn lawful permanent residence and a pathway to citizenship.

Since 2001, Durbin has been introducing the Dream Act every Congressional session without success. This will be his last time as he is not seeking reelection in 2026. 

On Wednesday, Durbin said on the Senate floor that these young people, known as Dreamers, have lived in the U.S. since they were children and are American in every way except for their immigration status. 

“[They]  grew up dreaming of getting their first job, passing their driver’s license test and applying to college, but they had a problem; under the current law, they were not legal to do those things,” said Durbin during his speech. “So the Dream Act gives them a chance, if brought to the United States as children, [to] have a path to citizenship after earning their way in a rather long and rigorous process.”

On Thursday morning, other politicians joined the movement at a press conference organized by the Home Is Here coalition, which includes FWD.us, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and United We Dream.

Among them were U.S Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Alex Padilla (D-CA). Padilla said Dreamers are our friends, neighbors, and loved ones who are proud to call themselves Americans and many are already fueling the U.S. economy.

“Senator Durbin has fought tirelessly for nearly 25 years to pass the Dream Act, and I’m honored to join him in calling on Congress to finally provide a pathway to citizenship for the Dreamers who contribute so much to our country,” Padilla said. 

Padilla highlighted now more than ever this legislation is vital as the massive raid operations continue under the Trump administration. 

A temporary bandage

In 2012 President Barack Obama announced the implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which would provide a temporary relief from deportation and a work permit for young immigrants who met certain requirements. However, this program does not guarantee a path to citizenship.

Since then, more than 830,000 Dreamers have received DACA, allowing them to study, work and contribute professionally back to the country. 

“Sadly, since President Obama established the program, many Republicans have waged a relentless campaign to overturn DACA and deport these Dreamers back to countries they left as infants, toddlers, and children—countries they may not even remember,” said Durbin. “Now this program is hanging by a thread in the courts, due to legal challenges from Republican state attorneys general.”

Currently, nearly 2 million Dreamers live in the U.S. and more than half a million, as of September 2024, had active DACA status.

The face of Dreamers

During his last introduction of the Dream Act to the Senate, Durbin presented his 150th case; Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a college student with a merit scholarship at Babson College in Massachusetts. 

Belloza was detained on Nov. 20 when she tried to board a plane in Massachusetts to visit her family in Texas. 

Without due process, two days later she was sent back to her native Honduras. Now her future is uncertain as she is in a country she barely knows. 

“Does this young lady look like the ‘worst of the worst’? The answer is clearly no,” Durbin said, showing a picture of Lopez Belloza to the Senate. “Ms. Lopez Belloza is one of countless Dreamers who have great potential to make this a better country. They’re not asking for a free ride. They are hardworking and determined… It’s that kind of determination, talent, and skill that should be part of this country’s future.”

In Los Angeles, CHIRLA, a longtime advocate for the Dream Act,  celebrated the re-introduction of bipartisan legislation, while demanding Congress to pass it and put millions of undocumented youth and DACA recipients–many now adults with families and careers–on the pathway to citizenship.  

“This year, I have seen the worst attacks on immigrant communities in my entire 30 years of working with them,” said Angelica Salas, CHIRLA’s executive director. “The DACA program was designed to empower undocumented young people and protect them from being deported from their home, yet we have seen them followed, arrested, and put in detention. Now more than ever Congress can stand up and act to provide permanent protections for close to 2 million people.”