Last week the House of Representatives passed the DREAM Act — a bill that would give undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children a path to citizenship through college or military service. The Senate, which was scheduled to hold a parallel vote, tabled the bill instead.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • Yesterday’s motion to table in the Senate came for two reasons — first, because the House had made changes to the bill, and second because supporters decided they needed more time to round up votes. The DREAM Act isn’t dead — a new version, matching the one the House passed, can still be introduced before the end of the year.
  • The 59-40 tally in that vote to table is pretty much meaningless. The rumors going around that the DREAM Act now has 59 votes in the Senate are false. See my post from yesterday for all the details.
  • Yesterday’s announcement that Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) would be voting against the DREAM Act is pretty much meaningless, too. He’s been a known “no” vote for months.
  • Chances of passage are still slim — one big DREAM organizer put them at ten percent yesterday — but they may be rising. Check out this fascinating piece in The Hill for the blow-by-blow on how Harry Reid kept the DREAM alive.
  • The White House has announced that it wants a vote on the START arms control treaty to be the Senate’s next order of business. The DREAM Act and repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell are likely to come after that.
  • Nobody knows for sure when a new Senate vote will be held. All the smart money is saying it won’t be this week, though.
  • I’m covering this story on an ongoing basis. Follow @studentactivism on Twitter to find out what I know as soon as I know it.