Mayoral candidates decry block of DREAM Act

• Reprints

Candidates for mayor of Chicago — and Mayor Daley himself — expressed regret Saturday that the Republican minority in the U.S. Senate, including new Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, killed the DREAM Act.

“The legislation, which proposed to create a path to citizenship for undocumented students who go to college or enter the military, would have been life-changing for the countless Chicagoans who are not yet citizens,” City Clerk Miguel Del Valle said.

“Chicago is a city of immigrants and we need leaders with political courage,” attorney Gery Chico said, praising Durbin and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.).

“I’m very disappointed,” former presidential chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said. “But one thing I think the president has shown is a tenacity and the steel to keep pursuing what he believes is a fundamental thing to set America on the right course, which is an immigration policy that reflects both our values and our laws.”

Daley said failure to pass the Act will hurt Chicago.

Abdon M. Pallasch