Spare Parts

by

Joshua Davis

An Act introduced in 2001 by Senator Dick Durbin to help provide a path for undocumented immigrants who had arrived in the U.S. as children and who had attended college. “DREAM” is an acronym for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act. In 2001, the bill did not even make it to a vote. Durbin reintroduced the bill in 2010, speaking about Oscar’s story on the floor of the U.S. Senate to try to persuade others to support the bill. The vote was blocked, however, by a Republican filibuster. In June 2012, President Barack Obama announced that his administration would stop deporting undocumented immigrants who matched criteria included in the DREAM Act (often known as “dreamers”) under a new program called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Thousands applied, including Cristian and Lorenzo. Since then, the Trump administration has rescinded the program, and as of 2018 the program is in limbo as several courts debate its constitutionality.

DREAM Act Quotes in Spare Parts

The Spare Parts quotes below are all either spoken by DREAM Act or refer to DREAM Act. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Underdogs and Overcoming Odds Theme Icon
).
Four Quotes

This extraordinary young man—a mechanical engineer who won a national competition, a person who can add something to America, who has a wife and family here, who is doing the right thing by going back to the country of his origin even though he has little connection with it anymore—is being told: America doesn't need you.

Related Characters: Dick Durbin (speaker), Oscar Vazquez, Karla Perez
Page Number: 211
Explanation and Analysis:
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DREAM Act Term Timeline in Spare Parts

The timeline below shows where the term DREAM Act appears in Spare Parts. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Four
Underdogs and Overcoming Odds Theme Icon
Immigration, Prejudice, and the American Dream Theme Icon
...the United States for at least five years and were attending college—it was called the DREAM Act . The bill had failed to even make it to a vote. In 2010, Durbin... (full context)
Immigration, Prejudice, and the American Dream Theme Icon
Senate Republicans block the vote. Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions states that the DREAM Act is a reward for illegal activity, and the legislation is tabled again. Durbin feels that... (full context)
Immigration, Prejudice, and the American Dream Theme Icon
Many immigration reform bills have failed in Congress, and the DREAM Act has stalled on arguments that allowing children to achieve legal residency creates an incentive for... (full context)