Democrats in Congress renew fight for DREAM Act

Updated at 2 p.m. ET

A day after President Obama outlined his plan to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, Democrats in Congress introduced a narrowly tailored bill Wednesday that would give some children of illegal immigrants a chance at legal status in the USA.

The legislation -- introduced today in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate -- would grant legal status to undocumented immigrants brought to the USA illegally if they attend college or serve in the military, and meet other conditions.

The measure was blocked in December by Senate Republicans such as Alabama's Jeff Sessions, who argued that the DREAM Act would give amnesty to people who are breaking the law.

Obama, speaking in El Paso on Tuesday, called on Congress to pass the DREAM Act and denounced a situation he called "cruel" and said "makes no sense." His speech laid out a comprehensive plan for changes to immigration law and ways to strengthen border security.

"We should stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents," he said. "We should stop denying them the chance to earn an education or serve in the military."

Under the measure introduced today, people can obtain legal status if :

• They came to the United States when they were 15 or younger and have had a continuous presence in the states for at least five years.
• They have good moral character
• They graduated from high school or obtained a GED.
• They completed two years of college or military service in good standing.

The DREAM Act passed a Democratic-led House last year, but the politics of getting the legislation through Congress and to Obama's desk will be even tougher this year. Republicans run the House, and the Democratic majority in the Senate has narrowed.

"Our immigration laws prevent thousands of young people from fully contributing to our nation's future," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the bill's lead sponsor. "These young people ... are American in every sense except their technical legal status. ...These children are tomorrow's doctors, nurses, teachers, policemen, firefighters, soldiers and senators, and we should give them the opportunity to reach their full potential."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said he is sympathetic to these children. "The DREAM Act doesn't solve our illegally immigration problem, it exacerbates it. Amnesty will encourage millions more parents to bring their children to the U.S. illegally," he said.

Durbin, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and 30 other Democrats have signed onto the Senate bill.

In the House, the DREAM Act was introduced by Democratic Reps. Howard Berman of California and Luis Guitierrez of Illinois, along with Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.