Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) announced a roundup over the last week of nearly 3,000 alleged criminal immigrants from across the country. The action follows a recent order from the Department of Homeland Security to focus only on serious criminals in their deportation efforts. But why is the Department of Justice undermining the Dream Act?

Latino and immigration activists have staged mass walkouts of federal task force hearings over the Obama Administration’s immigration and deportation policies, including “Secure Communities.” This week that pressure had an impact, as the Administration revised its rules. But activist groups aren’t satisfied.

While I think that immigration reform groups are generally appreciative of having their message delivered in a high-profile way, they aren’t likely to wait while concrete steps could be taken by the Administration right now to improve the lives and standing of undocumented immigrants.

The President’s remarks on immigration reform, delivered last hour from El Paso, Texas, reflect a return to promises made during the 2008 campaign, with the experience of a Presidency that has focused on border and workplace enforcement and deportations more than building the coalition for reform.

If Congress couldn’t pass the DREAM Act with its strongly Democratic makeup, the prospects for next year, with a Republican House and a less Democratic Senate, are dim. It may represent a second-term agenda item Obama can sell in his campaign, but it’s not a humane approach to immigration reform which is likely DOA as long as Republicans hold the House.

In an effort to win GOP favor on immigration legislation in Congress, the Obama Administration stepped up ICE deportations of undocumented workers to record levels. More than 800,000 immigrants were moved out of the United States in just two years by President Obama to appease Republicans, according to the Washington Post.

As of Thursday, it was unlikely that either the DREAM Act or DADT was going to come up for a vote in the Senate in this session. Talking Points Memo was reporting that the White House was “stalling the DADT vote” by insisting that the START nuclear reduction treaty have priority, which meant that there would not be enough time to bring it up this session.

Before the DADT repeal vote on Saturday, the Senate will take up the DREAM Act. Both votes came up as a House amendment to a Senate amendment to a bill, so they only require one cloture vote, a motion to concur. If they invoke cloture with 60 votes, they would only need a simple majority after that, and Harry Reid will fill the amendment tree on the measures, so if something passes, it would look identical to what the House passed. With Senators Bennett and Lugar in the bag, a unified caucus would mean 60 votes. But given the nature of how the vote is being brought up, I think the overwhelmingly likely outcome is that it fails tomorrow.

This was the trade made in the Senate last night; the Dems will get legislative repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, a couple judges, and probably the new START Treaty, and the Republicans will get the chance to massively cut spending early in the 112th Congress.

Harry Reid spoke about votes expected in the remainder of the lame duck session. He cited START, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the DREAM Act, the 9-11 health care bill and possibly votes on judicial nominations if an agreement wasn’t reached to move them in a block. As for when, he simply committed to votes on those issues “before this Congress ends,” not before Christmas.