California congressman extends DREAM Act tweet war through the weekend

By Bridget Johnson - 12/12/10 07:53 PM ET

If Sen. Bernie Sanders captured the web's attention Friday with his filibuster against President Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher staged his own weekend tweet-buster against the DREAM Act.

The California Republican continued his war of tweets into Sunday over the bill that provides a pathway to citizenship to children of illegal immigrants with certain military and schooling requirements, but shifted his arguments toward another Twitter user.

Rohrabacher began debating a user named @alesolo who identified herself as being from the OC -- Orange County, in his district falls -- after on Friday she retweeted video of a floor speech in which the lawmaker said, "Those voting for this so-called DREAM Act are voting to relegate the position of non-minority American citizens to behind those who are now in this country illegally." 

She tweeted:

Exactly how is that!?! RT @OCWeekly: Uh, @DanaRohrabacher says the DREAM Act is unfair to "non-minorities." - http://bit.ly/g9lDMz

Rohrabacher responded:

.@alesolo Libs put racist preferences into law. Illegals' status normalized=preferences apply to them=betrayal of Americans by racist libs.

To which she fired back:

@DanaRohrabacher #dreamact students=productive individuals=positive influx into US GDP=benefit for all

@DanaRohrabacher $1 govt spends on students (including dreamers)=$5 graduate puts back into US (cont) http://tl.gd/7e81i4

And the congressman tweeted:

.@alesolo Limited resources+millions more illegals made eligible=less for Americans+racial preferences=foreigners placed ahead of Americans

But the debate was still in full swing Saturday, when Rohrabacher tweeted:

.@alesolo Every dollar for education of illegals= one dollar less for citizens& invites more to come here illegally with their kids.

The most recent salvo fired as of this posting was when she responded:

@DanaRohrabacher your family in the past at one point illegally immigrated into this country=you a US Congress (cont) http://tl.gd/7ejbaf

On Saturday evening, the debate had come to this tweet by Rohrabacher:

@alesolo My kin arrived in 1709 before gov benefits & racist preferences. Should your family's educ/medical$ go to illegals? Are U selfish?

To which she responded:

@DanaRohrabacher so early immigrants did not take "benefits" in the form of resources and land from native Americans?

And the congressman replied:

.@alesolo Indians lost their country to foreigners. I'm not letting that happen to us w/out a fight. Which side are you & your friends on?

Rohrabacher also responded to another handful of Twitter users:

.@theSoniaG @izofice @rigo_ @P1Lal @raylab @LouiShoeGem You know you've won when opponents call you names rather than address your argument

@alesolo chimed back this tweet:

@DanaRohrabacher nobody is trying to "take" this country. We are all welcome here and we will coexist. That's the beauty of humanity.

But both she and the congressman moved on to new DREAM Act sparring partners, with Rohrabacher engaged in tweet warfare with a blogger in San Francisco, Denis Yurchikov, who fired several tweetsincluding:

@DanaRohrabacher Your only argument seems to be that white people will be hurt by the legalization of students. That's illogical.

The congressman fired back:

.@yurchie Illegals bid down the wages of taxpaying Americans. Health care & ed then provided to illegals. Americans lose. DANA

@yurchie said:

.@DanaRohrabacher You might be betraying your country by not helping out your new generation of innovators and educators.

And Rohrabacher tweeted:

.@yurchie Do u believe people who are here illegally should have preference over US citizens. Is this not a betrayal of our fellow citizens?

.@yurchie Racially based preferences for-among other things- jobs, admission, loans, training programs are mandated by various laws.

And the blogger responded:

@DanaRohrabacher You've gone completely off-topic. This isn't about racial preferences.

@DanaRohrabacher You're all about white people huh?

As the weekend drew to a close, the congressman kept firing:

.@yurchie Americans=every race. All should have priority over illegals. Amnesty triggers pref already in law. Pointing this out isn't racist

Good Comments on both sides what some people do not realize or they do and do not care, is that this country was founded by illegal immigrants all the way back to the pilgrims.  They were not citizens, they came here illegally and took over the land from the native Americans.  That is the truth, so we are a nation built from illegal immigrants.  Ha Ha Ha 

Once again Rohrabacher shows he doesn't understand an issue. The individuals under discussion are ones who were brought here as children, many of whom have no memory of their country of citizenship and only speak English. They have already graduated from high school. So the question is whether the US gets the benefits of all the money we have already spent educating them or whether we get the costs and none of the benefits. One can debate whether the law has loopholes that need to be closed, whether the age limit is correct, and other issues; but to say we don't need a law that covers this issue is to say that you want the broken, non-sensical status quo.BY STEPHEN67 on 12/11/2010 at 16:20

The Dream Act is amnesty and anyone who says no it is not, because this green card has to be earned, is wrong. The child will have to go through an earning process, sure, but the parents that brought them here illegaly will not have to. The child will eventually become a citizen and citizens can petition the illegal parents. The parents, who willfully broke the immigration laws, will benefit with a green card and citizenship and can then proceed to petition their own parents, siblings, spouses, etc..The parents, who started this mess, will not have to attend the military or college, will not have to graduate HS, will not be required to be here 5 years. That is amnesty for them. The Congressman is right that citizens, who paid into the system for decades, don't get to have their children benefit from fianancial aid. I am all for legal immigration, I am married to a legal immigrant, but illegal immigration has to stop at some point without this country suffering some consequences in the future.BY DEM VOTED GOP on 12/11/2010 at 16:42

The Congressman is right. Every dollar given to an illegal is one less dollar that could be given to a citizen/ legal immigrant. Typical DREAM/illegal response to claim that all citizens came here illegaly. If they can't beat them, slander them.BY EDGAR MARTINEZ on 12/11/2010 at 17:05

I believe there should be complete amnesty for all people residing in America in 2010-2011 and beyond… I know many folks will disagree with my statement above but if our nation known as America decided to close our borders and secure them as they should make a point to do it not such political mudslinging; my hope that the children and parents remain united not divided, thus the deportation should apply to felons more than illegal status
green cards expired as in visa stays remain invalid. I would hope the US Government would take all factors into
consideration before deporting families. I support legal American citizens with my tax dollars but unfortunately in Oakland, California I was told that illegals are in the process of receiving government checks! So blame our government not the illegals coming here to improve their lives sheeple!! God bless the immigrants in America!!!BY BETTY BOOMER on 12/11/2010 at 17:15

I had a dream. It came true November 2, 2010. Now if my dream will come true in 2012 I'll be one lucky gal.

No we do not want the Nightmare Act. No, No, No!BY BRENDA on 12/11/2010 at 17:24

If they are here illegally they are illegal.. No matter where they are from! So why reward those that break the laws and why should I pay for them… and Betty they cheat and steal tax dollars but oh they are so nice.. BSBY BIGS96712 on 12/11/2010 at 17:25

If these illegals are putting $5.00 back for every $1.00 we spend on them, how come we're in such bad shape? Could it be that the $5.00 goes to their parents that came here illegally. It's all liberal bull, kick 'em all out and start over at the back of the line.If I robbed a bank and my kids didn,t, can they petition to get me out of jail then.BY NICKYCHIN on 12/11/2010 at 17:33

It seems as though we as Americans are closing our eyes to the fact that the parents are the guilty ones,and they 
are.Now that their children are fully grown it seems that we as Americans are being punished for the laws that the parents broke.Yes I did say punished.In my opinion it would only right to either penalize the parents for braking our laws in the first place,or let them pay for their childrens education.The fact that their children have never been to Mexico (that's a lie),that they dont speak Spanish (that is also a lie ) is really not our fault, ones again that is the fault of the parents.Why in the world should they be rewarded at all,and the parents get away with committing a crime.There are cases of the law 
penalizing people that broke the law after many years 
living in hiding,so why are these parents being being rewarded?BY LOUIS on 12/11/2010 at 17:34

I'm from Dana's district and he has widespread support over this issue, and is 100% CORRECT. California colleges are cutting seats, courses, and financial aid for citizens, yet these pro-amnesty selfish spoiled zealots could care less.

NO "Dream Act" amnesty!!BY DANA IS RIGHT on 12/11/2010 at 17:50

Instead of thanking American taxpayers for paying for ther schooling, the pro-Dream Act amnesty crowd just wants more, more, more. They act like spoiled grade schoolers. 

We should treat illegal aliens in our country just like hypocritical Mexico treats illegals in their country.BY NO DREAM ACT AMENSTY on 12/11/2010 at 17:53