The U.S. House of Representatives authorized passage of the DREAM Act, a provision that would grant undocumented young people a chance at citizenship. Under the measure, immigrant youth could obtain permanent residency with a chance for citizenship, provided they attend college for at least two years or enlist in the military. Democratic Congressmember Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois hailed the bill’s passage.

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez: “In the end, we all came together and we were victorious, and that’s what we have to celebrate tonight. And understand that if we’ve learned anything, it’s that we can—when it becomes difficult, when it gets a little desperate, when it gets a little dark, when it seems as though there is no avenue to success and to justice, we cannot turn inwards. We have to look outwards at where our enemies and the forces of resistance exist and go after them.”

A recent Congressional Budget Office report found that the DREAM Act would knock $1.4 billion off the federal deficit over the next decade. The U.S. Senate is expected to take up whether to begin debate on its version of the DREAM Act bill today.