LOS ANGELES — A group of Los Angeles college students plans to take their fight for immigration rights to the states and the 2012 election after Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would have given thousands of young illegal immigrants a path to legal status.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Saturday doomed an effort that would have given hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants a path to legal status if they enrolled in college or joined the military. Sponsors of the Dream Act fell five votes short of the 60 they needed to break through largely GOP opposition and win its enactment before Republicans take over the House and narrow Democrats\' majority in the Senate next month.

The vote by the Senate on Saturday to block a bill to grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant students was a painful setback to an emerging movement of immigrants and also appeared to leave the immigration policy of the Obama administration, which has supported the bill and the movement, in disarray.

Over the past several weeks, the President and my fellow Cabinet members have talked about a number of important reasons to support the DREAM Act. Today, I’d like to speak to the important role the DREAM Act would have in promoting public safety though smart and effective immigration enforcement.

Advocates for legislation providing illegal immigrant students a way to remain in the country lawfully launched a last-minute effort this week to rally centrist senators behind the bill. The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) released a \"most wanted\" list on Tuesday targeting 10 Senate lawmakers — three Democrats and seven Republicans — in hopes of getting the DREAM Act over the finish line before the 111th Congress adjourns.

Reporting from Washington — After years of courting Latino voters with a softer tone on immigration, Republican leaders in Congress have all but abandoned that posture, risking what remains of GOP support among the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. The latest example is the near-unanimous opposition by Senate Republicans to the Dream Act, a measure that provides a way for some illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children to become citizens.

WASHINGTON — The Senate moved Thursday to delay a politically charged showdown vote on legislation carving out a path to legal status for foreign-born youngsters brought to this country illegally, putting off but probably not preventing the measure\'s demise. Facing GOP objections, Democrats put aside the so-called Dream Act and said they\'d try again to advance it before year\'s end. They\'re short of the 60 votes needed to do so, however, and critics in both parties quickly said they won\'t change their minds in the waning days of the Democratic-controlled Congress.

SALT LAKE CITY — A new coalition on immigration, closely modeled after the Utah Compact, is emerging in another state. A group of business, community and religious leaders is forming in Georgia to promote a policy document designed to guide the state\'s immigration debate toward a \"compassionate, reasonable\" approach. \"The Utah Compact, I think, sets a standard that any people of reasonable mind can agree to,\" said Charles Kuck, the former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. \"It\'s certainly something that should be implemented across the country.\"

For nearly two years, she’s worked toward the goal of becoming a dental hygienist. But if the DREAM Act doesn’t pass, her hard work won’t matter. She won’t be able to get a job as a dental hygienist because she’s undocumented. “We just want to give back to the country that gave us so much,” said Jessica, a Salt Lake Community College student who preferred not to give her full name. Jessica moved here with her parents from Mexico when she was 8. “I love Utah. I love this country.”

The topic of immigration is so politically charged that several members of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly boycotted Thursday’s meeting when they found out Cherilyn Eagar — a supporter of an enforcement-only immigration bill — would be the keynote speaker.

Not all the political news this year involves the rise of partisan extremism and government by rage. There has been lots of that. But maybe there is a limit, a point when people of good sense and good will band together to say no. As they have just done in Utah. Political, business, law-enforcement and religious leaders there have endorsed what they call the Utah Compact. It is a statement of principles meant to address, with moderation and civility, “the complex challenges associated with a broken national immigration system.” What a welcome contrast it draws with the xenophobic radicalism of places like Arizona.

All students deserve access to higher education and a prosperous future, regardless of their immigration status. Federal legislation that would permit young illegal immigrants to gain legal status and ultimately citizenship if they go to college or serve in the military is in California\'s and the country\'s best interest.

There are no precise statistics on illegal immigrants. For this article, The New York Times estimated the number of illegal immigrants who drive by analyzing data from the Census Bureau’s 2006-8 American Community Survey, which includes all United States residents regardless of immigration status as well as information about commuting to work.

There are no precise statistics on illegal immigrants who drive. But the government compiles information on the license status and ethnicity of drivers killed in accidents. According to that data, Hispanic drivers killed in crashes are disproportionately unlicensed, particularly in Southern states where illegal immigration surged in the last decade. About 80 percent of illegal immigrants are Hispanic.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — It was just another suburban fender-bender. A car zoomed into an intersection and braked too late to stop at a red light. The Georgia woman driving it, an American citizen, left with a wrecked auto, a sore neck and a traffic fine.

With future taxation, and therefore the economy, hanging in the balance, Congress on Wednesday, Dec. 8 decided do talk, instead, about amnesty for illegal aliens provided under the mislabeled “DREAM Act.” The act passed later that night in the House by a vote of 216-198 (including eight Republicans), but faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.