Sen. Graham is our hero on the Dream Act

Conservative South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sharp wit and straight talk have made him a breath of fresh air among Republican Party leaders in Washington who lack the first quality and, since Donald Trump’s election, seem unable to pull off the secon

We don’t always agree with Graham. But on the Dream Act — providing a path to citizenship for immigrants who were brought here as children and have embraced the American dream — he is our hero.

With an impassioned plea Thursday, Graham and Sen. Dick Durbin, DIll., proposed an updated version of the Dream Act and framed it as a moral imperative for Congress and this president.

“To President Trump: You’re going to have to make a decision,” said Graham Thursday. “The campaign is over. To the Republican Party: Who are we? What do we believe? The moment of reckoning is coming. When they write the history of these times, I’m going to be with these kids.”

Trump has not seemed sympathetic to Dreamers. He originally said they would not be targeted, but soon after that a young woman was picked up by ICE after speaking at a rally.

The Dream Act was proposed during the Obama administration with bipartisan support, but not enough of it. So Obama issued an executive order known as DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — to implement the policies. It’s being challenged as executive overreach, but Congress could make that question moot by passing legislation.

The argument is so compelling on a human level.

Hard liners on immigration say everyone who crosses the border illegally or overstays a visa is a criminal like any other. But the kids they brought with them didn’t knowingly break the law. Many were so young they neither remember their homeland nor speak the language.

Imagine if you were suddenly deported to the country your ancestors came from — Russia? China? Nigeria?

Obama’s DACA was no giveaway. It set high standards for deferred action, including proficiency in English and U.S. history. The kids had to be headed for college or the U.S. military.

Durbin and Graham want to broaden the reach to young people seeking vocational rather than academic careers. And why not? People grumble about tech H-1B visas, but Trump resorts import labor in busy seasons, claiming they can’t find Americans for the jobs.

Graham’s plea is unlikely to move Trump unless a strong contingent of other conservatives join the cause of helping promising kids who were raised as Americans. The sooner they join it, the better the chances of heading off a veto.

At a time when the president and GOP leaders are trying to remove health insurance from 20 to 30 million people and lower taxes for the rich, Graham is right: His party could use a touch of humanity. Start with the Dream Act.