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The DREAM Act failed to become a reality this past Tuesday when Senate Republicans filibustered a vote on the Defense Authorization Bill, to which the DREAM Act was attached. Attaching the legislation to the war budget drew criticism from the Right and Left. Republican Senator from Utah Bob Bennett objected to it as an amendment to the Defense bill but said he would support the DREAM Act as a stand alone bill. Nevada Senate candidate Sharon Angle slammed Senate incumbent and rival Harry Reid for being the prime backer of it, calling him “the best friend illegals have ever had”. Some on the Left who supported the DREAM Act, including anti-war and immigrant rights activists, became opponents of the bill in the weeks leading up to the Senate vote. Of major concern to them is a provision, added in 2007, that would allow undocumented youth to gain permanent residence status after serving in the military for two years in lieu of college. Among the reasons for opposition to this provision is the possibility that it serves as a military recruitment tool instead of as an incentive to obtain a higher education alone. Despite the Senate vote-down on Tuesday, the DREAM Act is still alive – the measure has been procedurally added to the legislative calendar as a stand-alone bill, sponsored by long-time supporter Dick Durbin (D-IL) and co-sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN). On Tuesday we talked to DREAM Act supporter Dr. Paul Ortiz, veteran, anti-war activist, and Professor at the University of Florida. On the other side of the issue is our guest today, Pablo Paredes, a veteran of the US Navy who was court-martialed in 2005 for refusing to serve in Iraq, calling it an illegal war. He is now a GI rights counselor and prominent counter-recruitment activist.

GUEST: Pablo Paredes, US Navy veteran, a community organizer at American Friends Service Committee in San Francisco, Ca, and counter-recruitment activist

Find more information online about the American Friends Service Committee at www.afsc.org

Listen to the voice of an undocumented student speaking out against the DREAM ACT here.

Listen to Paul Ortiz’s interview here: http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=15977