Senate Democrats Put ‘Dream Act’ on Hold

Senate Democrats on Thursday pulled a measure that would allow illegal immigrant students to earn legal status through education or military service after Republicans refused to allow a vote on a version of the legislation that had cleared the House on Wednesday.

Rather than try to break a Republican filibuster against the Senate’s so-called Dream Act, Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, instead forced a vote to call off the attempt, presumably so he could try again later. Democrats prevailed on the motion to table the legislation, 59-40.

Were the Senate able to win approval of the bill, it would go straight to President Obama in the final days of the 111th Congress and represent a significant win for advocates of immigration law reform.

But that outcome seems doubtful since Senate Republicans have taken a hard line against the bill, which would allow high school graduates to gain legal status over 10 years by serving in the military or graduating from college.

Democrats are maneuvering to force the bill through now, because once Republicans take control of the House in January, it is unlikely that they would advance any measure to improve access to legalized status for those who are in the country illegally.

When the House approved its bill on Wednesday night, just eight Republicans joined 208 Democrats in backing it. But of the eight, six are leaving Congress at the end of the month.

Backers of the measure, led by Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said the legislation was needed to assist children who were brought into the country illegally by their parents and find themselves without a country through no fault of their own.

“These are the most energetic, idealistic young people you could meet in your life,” Mr. Durbin said Wednesday. “They’re tomorrow’s lawyers and doctors and engineers.”

“We can give them a chance to serve,” he added. “We can put them on a road where it will be difficult but no more difficult than what they’ve gone through in their lives. Or we can say, no, wait for another day.”

Opponents of the measure said it amounted to a grant of amnesty and that the measure had loopholes that would make it too easy to become eligible for legal status or qualify for legal status through fraud.

“A person illegally here can receive indefinite legal status as long as they have a G.E.D, the alternative to a high school diploma,” said Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama. “They can receive permanent legal status and a guaranteed path to citizenship as long as they then complete two years of college or trade school.”

Mr. Durbin, however, said the process was far from easy. “It will be a hard process and a difficult road for them to follow, but in the name of justice, in the name of fairness, give these young people a chance,” he said.