The DREAM Act, number five on the StudentActivism.net list of the top twelve activism stories to watch this year, will come to a vote in the US Senate in the next few days, and organizing to secure its passage is reaching a fever pitch. In a story on the upcoming showdown this morning, The New York Times said that next week’s vote “gives the student movement a chance to show its muscle.”

Supporters of the law, which would give undocumented young people brought to the US as children a path to citizenship through college enrollment or military service, have been lighting up the phones on Capitol Hill ever since Senate majority leader Harry Reid announced that he would move to pass it as an amendment to the Defense Department’s budget.

Republicans who have supported the DREAM Act in the past are backing away from the bill now, fearing the boost that passage could give the Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections, and the Senate’s filibuster rules make passage an uphill battle.

But with the Republican Party expected to make significant gains in the Senate this November, the DREAM Act’s chances are unlikely to improve anytime soon, so activists across the country are throwing themselves into the cause with passion — supporters of the bill say that they made more than ten thousand calls to Senators yesterday, and they’re aiming to hit fifteen thousand today.

You can follow the DREAM Act movement as it builds toward next week’s vote by checking out the #DREAMact hashtag.