Yesterday’s meeting between President Obama and the leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, U.S. Representative Nydia Velazquez of New York, and U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, resulted in all agreeing to push for passing the DREAM Act before this Congress adjourns.

From the Official White House Readout :

The President reiterated his support for fixing the broken immigration system and urged the CHC leaders to work to restore the bipartisan coalition backing comprehensive immigration reform. The President repeated his hope that, with the election season’s pressures past, Congressional Republicans would work with their Democratic colleagues not only to strengthen security at the nation’s borders, but also to restore responsibility and accountability to what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system. The President reiterated his strong support for bipartisan Congressional action on immigration reform at the earliest opportunity, noting that the American people expect both parties to work together to tackle the challenges confronting our nation.

It is clear that both Obama and at least Rep. Gutierrez wanted Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) before DREAM Act, but without a viable proposal on the table, the DREAM Act is being viewed as a “down-payment” on CIR. What remains to be seen is if the DREAM Act is indeed brought to a vote, if it will be attached to a defense bill, as it was most recently, attached to another bill, or presented on it’s own.