You may remember that Senator Durbin's first offering of the DREAM Act would have legalized MILLIONS of illegal aliens -- REGARDLESS OF AGE -- who could simply "swear" to the following:

 That they entered the United States (illegally) before reaching 16;

 That they have lived (illegally) in the United States for a least five consecutive years;

  That they have graduated from an American High School -- or obtained a G.E.D. (albeit while in the United States illegally);

  That they have "good moral character."

But failing to sell the American people on that plan, Senator Durbin is now placing an age cap into his "re-packaged" version of the DREAM Act -- all in an effort to secure enough votes for passage.

Here's what Mark Krikorian with National Review Online wrote:

"Well, someone must be complaining about the DREAM Act amnesty, because Dick Durbin has now filed off some of its more egregious burrs in the latest attempt to get it attached to the defense authorization bill. The new iteration has an age cap, allowing only those under the age of 30 to lie about sneaking into the U.S. before the age of 16."

But this age cap of 30 is effectively meaningless as it will still grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan immigration research organization, the DREAM Act could provide immediate conditional legal status to 360,000 high school graduates under the age of 24 and help 715,000 currently in school.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg because the DREAM Act will also grant amnesty to the parents as well.

According to Kris Kobach of the Heritage Foundation, "The illegal alien who applies for this amnesty is immediately rewarded with 'conditional' lawful permanent resident (green card) status, which can be converted to a non-conditional green card in short order. The alien can then use his newly acquired status to seek green cards for the parents who brought him in illegally in the first place. In this way, it is also a back­door amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens who brought their children with them to the United States."

In other words, an illegal alien -- who can pass for under 30-years of age simply needs to enroll in the local community college and can effectively extend that amnesty to two other people.

Kobach again: "[A]ll the alien needs is a high school diploma or a GED earned in the United States. If he can persuade an institution of higher education in the United States -- any community college, technical school, or college -- to admit him, that will suffice. Any illegal alien who meets these conditions (or who can produce fraudulent papers indicating that he meets the conditions) gets immediate legal status."

The only question at this point is; how many illegal aliens in this county WON'T qualify under these "new and improved" guidelines?

According to the Washington Times, "[Sen. Durbin] has dropped from his plan a mandate for in-state tuition rates..."

So does that mean illegal aliens will be forced to pay what out-of-state students pay?

Absolutely NOT!

Krikorian again:

"Also, it would eliminate the (never-enforced) provision barring states from offering in-state tuition to illegals, which wouldn't really matter since the students would be getting green cards in any case, thus qualifying for in-state tuition like any other legal resident."

It's smoke and mirrors, plain and simple!

Any parent who has put a child through college, or will one day put a child through college, should be ALARMED!

According to an editorial in AmericanDaily.com by Carolyn Hileman, "there are 1400 federal programs to help low and no income children to get an education paid for by many whose children will never be able to take advantage of them."

Hileman goes on to point out that our government gives away 12.7 billion dollars in Pell Grants alone. 

Should your tax dollars be used to subsidize the education of someone who should not be here in the first place?  Should your children be placed at the back of the line in favor of illegal aliens?

Kobach says no:

"This gift to illegal aliens costs taxpayers a great deal of money at a time when tuition rates are rising across the country. For example, in California, a lawsuit on the matter has re­vealed the staggering cost to the taxpayer: The state pays more than $100 million annually to subsidize the college education of thousands of illegal aliens...  This gift to illegal aliens comes at a time when millions of U.S. citizens have had to mortgage their future to attend college... In a world of scarce education resources, U.S. citizens should be first in line to receive a break on college costs -- not aliens who break federal law."

Some feel reassured about the DREAM Act's fate.  Some people feel that the politicians in Washington finally get what the American people are saying.   In fact, Senator John Cornyn was quoted in the Washington Times several days ago saying: "It won't survive cloture."

But let's not rush to judgment just yet!

According to the Houston Chronicle, "Cornyn, who voted for the DREAM Act in 2003, said he would have to look at Durbin's changed bill to see if he could support it."

And Senator Lindsey Graham -- the champion of amnesty -- has also weighed in, "I support the Dream Act, but I'll just have to see how it affects this policy."

Don't be complacent just because the American people have defeated amnesty bills before.  Unless we move and move quickly, those who are hedging will view our silence as implied consent.

And that's the last thing we want!

Politicians on both sides of the aisle keep introducing amnesty bills because they believe the American people will fall asleep and let one of these bills slip through.  Or, that opponents of granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens will eventually tire and stop fighting.

Rest assured, we will NEVER let pro-amnesty legislation get past our guard.  And we don't believe you and other concerned Americans will ever stop fighting. 

But don't count on Republicans in the Senate to hold the line without a lot of pressure. 

            Let's turn up the heat to defeat the DREAM Act once and for all!