Opponents of the Maryland “Dream Act” have cleared their most important hurdle, with validated signatures totaling twice as many as needed to send the would-be law to referendum next year.
Elections officials verified the final batch of signatures on Thursday afternoon. Of the more than 76,000 submitted on the June 30 deadline, 63,118 were deemed valid.
That brings the total to 110,346 valid signatures amassed since Gov. Martin O’Malley signed the bill into law in May. The Dream Act would allow recent high school graduates who are in the country illegally to pay in-state tuition if they meet certain requirements, including attending a state high school for at least three years and that their parents pay state taxes.
The Maryland State Board of Elections has until July 22 to certify the results. Administrator Linda Lamone expects to take the full two weeks so that Dream Act supporters have the full time to weigh their options on taking the issue to court.
“The process is structured in a manner to give interested parties time to examine issues,” Lamone said. “… It’s an orderly process that’s followed and everybody is on notice.”
Dream Act supporters have challenged the petition drive on two fronts.
The ACLU of Maryland has questioned the validity of MDpetitions.com, the first time that a state referendum drive has gone online to gather signatures.
And Casa of Maryland will be given the names of every signature under provisions of the Maryland Public Information Act, so that they can “independently verify” the signatures. The three state delegates leading the anti-Dream Act push will be given the same information.
Dream Act opponents say that the collection of so many signatures in less than two months sends a message on how much opposition there is, and renders any would-be challenges to the signature count moot.
“The numbers are just too overwhelming,” said Sue Payne, an organizer for Rally for America.
Maryland Secretary of State John P. McDonough will decide how the question is worded on the November 2012 ballot.
A coalition of clergy leaders and immigrant advocates is undeterred in defending the Dream Act, and will ratchet up their efforts to convince voters that the law is morally and fiscally sound.
“[T]he theology of love will triumph over hate,” the coalition said in a statement issued Friday night. “We believe that investing in our children is critical for a successful Maryland. And, we trust that once Marylanders do the math, they will understand the fiscal and moral import to ensure the MD DREAM Law prevails.”
By The Numbers
Here's a breakdown of anti-Dream Act signatures, by county.
Baltimore County
26,023Harford
12,758
Anne Arundel
Carroll
12,674
11,056
Frederick
7,392Washington
5,778Howard
5,517Montgomery
4,855Baltimore City
3,658
This is about illegal immigration? An immigrant is not illegal and people need to be enlightened. Highly skilled Professional workers are always welcome, not indigent ECONOMIC illegal aliens who are driving this country, into a third world condition. We cannot accommodate any longer those who come here to steal welfare and public benefits from legitimate Americans. It is estimated that illegal aliens send home by wire transfer around $40 billion dollars annually, that should be going into state treasuries. Don't hesitate to reach the Senate phone switchboard—202-224–3121 and House—202-225–3121, and inform them you will not be manipulated into another clandestine Amnesty, disguised as the DREAM ACT.
as they illegals are violating federal law, not only are they in this country, they openly flaunt their illegal status. We must hold "all" politicals and law enforcement responsible.
are not enforced..... I would love to see you walk into Mexico with your family, get a job, have and send your children to their schools and walk into their hospitals when you are ill. I am sure you would have one of those "teachable" moments that Don was talking about. If the Federal government was enforcing the laws of the land, they would hold Govenor O'Malley and the state of Maryland in violation of the immirgration law for knowing harboring and supporting illegals. This is all about political power and votes.
Community Colleges have been giving illegals in-state tuition for years. They base in-state tuition not on "citizenship", but if an applicant has attended a Maryland HS for 2 consecutive years. Where is the uproar over that?? Maryland politics is a "ship of fools" and should be sunk, once and forever.
As for local politics all I can say is that I'm a native Rockville person, been around a long time. Maryland / Montgomery County has one of the best "well-oiled" political machines in the country.....much like Illinois / Chicago and this is not a good thing. This will never change....too ingrained to overcome. It will eventually be the ruin of the County, it's already started. If you want to hear "uproar" you must leave Montgomery, Prince George's Counties and Baltimore to hear it.
What is it that you want to see “corrected?” This from a Washington Post story last summer: “The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency expects to deport about 400,000 people this fiscal year, nearly 10 percent above the Bush administration's 2008 total and 25 percent more than were deported in 2007. The pace of company audits has roughly quadrupled since President George W. Bush's final year in office.” Jeff: are you arguing for returning to the laxer enforcement we had under Bush?
To be factual, I did not state that "I" wanted to see the issue "corrected". I did state that in my opinion that I thought it will be eventually "corrected". Piotr: No, I'm not suggesting that we return to the enforcement practices under Bush, never suggested that at all. I hate to assume things, but I sense you see a Democrat / Republican issue here. I merely see it as a "legal" issue and I believe with exit of the Obama administration.....which by the way.....will eventually happen..... there will be a "correction" on Federal policy of perhaps stricter enforcement at the borders itself (so we don't have to deport so many) and perhaps allowing each State to handle their own issues without "too much" interference.
In addition I would ask. If the current administration is doing such a good job of deportation, then what is up with Maryland and in particular Montgomery County? It would then appear that Maryland / Montgomery is flying smack dab into the face of the Obama adminstration's policy. This would be peculiar given the heavily Democrat leaning of this County. Where is the public outcry from the citizen's of Montgmery County concerning the vastly increased deportations under Obama?
I hope all agree that laws should be enforced and if the Obama administration is doing a better job than the Bush administration then that is a good thing. If we do not like the result, we should change the law. As far as delineating what is the appropriate federal role vs. the state role on this issue – that will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, regardless of the administration in power. And when it comes to educating kids: I would like to see all kids who excel in academics (i.e. those willing to put in the work) have access to higher education through some mechanism. Yes, there is a cost; but the cost of not educating talented, hard working, individuals is much higher.
Your 1st paragraph: I agree with 100% Your 2nd paragraph: We will have to wait and see I guess. Your 3rd and last paragraph: I agree 100% as long as they are legal citizen's or are on some sort of guest Visa. The key word being "legal" I suppose.
Dream act kids are different than other immigrants in the sense that they are fully integrated/assimilated into American society. They are not sending money " back home" b/c they grew up here and have little ties with the countries they came from. It makes economic sense to let them develop into productive adults instead of stopping their progress. People who are idle turn to all sorts of deviant behavior and often times violent crime out of desperation (sociology 101). They already speak the language and embrace the culture, it can't cause anyone harm by letting them acquire skills that will make our country more competitive on a global scale. You're an idiot for wanting to see people oppressed and living in misery.
Here is just one item. I could provide many more, but there is a "space" issue. " In 2004, a Maryland state legislator contacted the DOJ to express his concern that the Maryland Department of Motor Vehicles was allowing non-citizens applying for driver's licenses to register to vote. When he asked the DMV to stop, he was told that it was required by the NVRA to offer all driver's license applicants the opportunity to register to vote. The Justice Department quickly sent the Maryland delegate a letter pointing out that the NVRA had no such requirement and that federal law makes it a crime for a non-citizen to register. The letter went on to say that a state that issues licenses to non-citizens should not offer such an individual the right to register to vote. Nonetheless, there is no evidence that the Maryland DMV has changed its procedures to deter non-citizens from registering, and Maryland officials recently testified that they were issuing 2,000 driver's licenses per week to undocumented aliens." To state that "illegals" are NOT voting is in error. You might "wish" they weren't voting, but somehow they are doing it. So to accuse someone of a blatant lie is wrong. Your personal experience may justify your statement, but it does not count for the "big " picture. It appears that if anything, based on your own words.....you are the one who seems to have a "hate" issue with calling people "idiots", "stupid".
Judging by the amount of blatant misinformation on this thread, there will be a lot of effort underway to convince fair-minded Marylanders that this bill is unfair or costing taxpayers too much money. Ignorance is far, far more expensive. These are AMERICAN kids who through know fault of their own find themselves in that situation. Charing them out-of-state tuition will deny hundreds or thousands of them access to a good education. That would be so morally wrong, I just might have to get involved in this campaign and fight for those who don't have enough voices already on their side.
Huge increases in deportations of people after they were arrested for breaking traffic or immigration laws or driving drunk helped the "Obama administration set a record " last year for the number of criminal immigrants forced to leave the country, documents show. The U.S. deported nearly 393,000 people in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, half of whom were considered criminals. Of those, 27,635 had been arrested for drunken driving, more than double the 10,851 deported after drunken driving arrests in 2008, the last full year of the Bush administration, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data provided to The Associated Press. An additional 13,028 were deported last year after being arrested on less serious traffic law violations, nearly three times the 4,527 traffic offenders deported two years earlier, according to the data. The spike in the numbers of people deported for traffic offenses as well as a 78 percent increase in people deported for immigration-related offenses renewed skepticism about the administration's claims that it is focusing on the most dangerous criminals.
Hey Doug.....you couldn't be THE Doug from Rockville could you? Your comment: "I for one will be voting to keep this law on the books. Proudly, I might add." (I guess I will be "cancelling out" your vote with my vote Doug.....proudly too :) Your comment: "just might have to get involved in this campaign and fight for those who don't have enough voices already on their side." (are you a "gamechanger" Doug?).....cue the Superman TV show music.... Jeff in Rockville.....