Influence Alley

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin will be delivering his first extended speech on the DREAM Act since the Obama Administration's June announcement to defer deportations for young undocumented immigrants. And the Alley has a first look at what the senator will say.

Durbin will be speaking at the Center for American Progress, where he'll praise the new program allowing undocumented students to defer deportation.

"But a future President could change this policy," Durbin will say. "Ultimately the responsibility lies with Congress to pass the DREAM Act and give these bright ambitious young people a path to citizenship in America."

Durbin will also link advocating for "dreamers," or young undocumented immigrants who want to attend college but fear deportation, to successful tactics of the Civil Rights Movement:

During the civil rights movement, hearts and minds weren't changed by debates about abstract principles like equal protection. Instead it was people like John Lewis, who had the courage to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, knowing he would face billy clubs, dogs and fire hoses. 

In the same way, the Dreamers come out as undocumented, knowing they might face deportation from the only home they know back to countries they don't even remember.

Like John Lewis, I believe some of these courageous Dreamers will go on to serve their country in the United States Congress and other leadership roles.

To that end, the Durbin will announce the launch of a new website showcasing stories of "dreamers," which Durbin has mentioned on the Senate floor.