U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is making one last effort to push a bill ensuring a legal pathway to citizenship for child immigrants through Congress before his upcoming retirement.
Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced the DREAM Act of 2025, marking the bill’s latest iteration since the bipartisan bill was originally introduced in 2001. The legislation, which has been introduced several times but never passed, would allow Dreamers — or noncitizens without lawful status who were brought to the U.S. as children — to pursue citizenship if they meet military, education or work requirements.
Dreamers are protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, which was launched by former President Barack Obama 13 years ago and covers more than 800,000 people. But even under DACA, there’s not a path to citizenship for Dreamers.
“I want everybody who comes into my office to understand this is a proud son of an immigrant who’s doing everything he can to help the next generation of immigrants be part of America’s future,” Durbin said at a press conference announcing the reintroduction of the bill.
Durbin and other supporters of the Dream Act pointed to the Trump administration’s aggressive detainment and deportation tactics in the Chicago area and around the country as a reason further protections for immigrants are especially important now.
“I’ve been both angry and heartbroken to watch masked federal agents parading in their combat uniforms with automatic weapons in the city of Chicago,” Durbin said. “And it’s time that we bring an end to this madness that’s happening in the streets of the cities of America. I think there is hope. The Dream Act is a key step toward true, positive, bipartisan change.”
Axel, a DACA recipient who spoke at the press conference and didn’t give his last name, said he’s studying computer engineering and hopes to establish his own tech company one day. His education and other accomplishments have been possible because of DACA, he said, and more protections would allow immigrant like him to reach their full potential.
“We will inherit many challenges, but with that, there are so many opportunities to do things better and to really build a life where we can thrive, not only survive,” Axel said. “That will require more than just one bill, but we must start somewhere.”
Durbin, who announced he would not seek reelection last spring, has been sharing stories of Dreamers on the Senate floor for years, and this week he spoke about Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, an immigrant who was brought to the U.S. from Honduras as an 8-year-old. Now in college, Lopez Belloza was detained by federal agents at Boston Logan International Airport while trying to fly home to visit her family for Thanksgiving. She was deported to Honduras despite a court order barring her transfer or deportation for three days.
Durbin and other members of Congress vowed to garner support for the bill across the aisle until it’s passed.
“Twenty-five years he’s been at this but let me be clear today: We’re not just announcing the reintroduction of the Dream Act,” said U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). “But what does that mean? The reintroduction of the Dream Act means the dream is still alive.”