Applying pressure to stop the bleeding

With Obama getting a lot of good press lately for passing START, 9/11 responders and DADT, and complaints about him not passing the DREAM act, I decided to take a look at the DREAM act. I can see why this didn't get passed. It isn't just Republican obstruction for the sake of obstruction.
The DREAM act is a great example of the Left being unreasonable. Maybe I'm reading into this too much but I'll explain my logic.
The premise of the DREAM act is reasonable. Supporters will say "We shouldn't have policy that punishes children for the acts of their parents". Many of the supporters don't think the parents should be punished either in the case of immigration, so that sounds like a fair compromise. The condescendingly stubborn comes from the idea that 15 years and 364 days is considered a child in this instance.
The drafters of the DREAM Act knew that they couldn't get away with saying that someone who moved to America is all they know when they moved here a week before their 18th birthday. To make it a bill to help those who truly know nothing of the country they were born in (barely speak their native language); the drafters of the DREAM act made the threshold 16.
Sixteen is not a child in this context. A sixteen year old is old enough to decide not to cross the border and stay with aunts/uncles/grandparents. A sixteen year old knows the language of their native country. And a sixteen year old doesn't deserve any special privileges because they managed to stick around for five years without being caught.
My progressive readers may now be saying "that doesn't sound progressive". No, it just doesn't sound liberal. I care about progress. The DREAM act will not progress the debate and it won't progress the well being of the people.
It will not progress the debate because Democrats don't/won't understand the true meaning of compromise. If the idea of the DREAM act is to help those who are here through no fault of their own and can not thrive in their own country- then lower the age to something reasonable. Start at, say 10, and when a Republican says no make them answer how young should it be lowered to. This will shift the debate from being for or against to "how young". 
The DREAM act will not progress the well being of 'the people' for two reasons. First it will never pass as is. Second the DREAM act ill not actually accomplish anything. The DREAM act is designed to ease the difficulty of the lives of young people. There is a conservative argument that it will be at the expense of people here 'supposed' to be here. But I have a philosophical reason for saying the dream act will not accomplish anything.
Difficulty is not something we should seek to abolish. The repeal of DADT and passing START did not happen because Obama is a good politician. They happened because he has been having difficulty with his base when he expected to be treated as if he could do no wrong (the way Bush's supporters acted).
Apply some Joseph Campbell to your world view to see where I'm going with this. In any good story, the hero reaches greatness because of what s/he overcame. Not despite it.
It is time we put our bleeding hearts away and ask: "what is suffering and what is difficulty?" Suffering we should absolutely do something about (there is a libertarian argument to make on how but I won't go into that right now) But difficulty is not something should be concerning ourselves with.
Heroes are born of difficulty. That is why I believe that returning children here illegally to nations that seem alien to them would be ultimately a good thing. They would go to these countries and see something is amiss (or if there isn't I don't really feel bad for them). And drawing on the spirit of the founding fathers and Martin Luther King, they can bring what is good in America to the rest of the world.
America didn't become what it is from complacency or trust in the government- it came from the people fighting those who oppress them.

PS
This shouldn't be taken to an extreme. If someone is a refuge from their country, then that is the time for compassion. That is why I make the distinction between difficulty and strife.

PSS
What would it take to get me to support the DREAM act? The age would have to be lowered to something like four. And some other provisions I haven't worked out in my head yet. Basically I'd consider making it so people who grew up here won't have it used against them in applying for citizenship after they've been deported.