As hope of passing a bipartisan deal to provide protections for so-called “Dreamers” dwindles, Democrats and immigration activists are confident the political backlash will fall squarely on Republicans.
After killing the Obama-era Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals program last year, President Trump told Congress they had until March 5 to come up with an agreement that would provide a pathway to citizenship for the 800,000 recipients. But as Trump continues to issue veto threats for every deal presented, lawmakers are starting to predict the deadline will come and go with no agreement leading to increased deportations next month.
And if the administration amps up deportations of Dreamers and a deal isn’t passed in the coming months, immigration activists say Republicans will feel the political ramifications more than Democrats.
Advocates had slammed Democrats throughout the debate, arguing leaders didn’t put enough pressure on Republicans or hold the line during budget negotiations, but they don’t plan on fighting Democrats in 2018. Instead, their ire will be focused on Republicans.
Angel Padilla, policy director for progressive group Indivisible, said immigration groups opposed the bipartisan Senate bills offered but praised Democrats for trying to work with Republicans to get an agreement.
Certain issues, like healthcare, are visceral, Padilla said. And, DACA is “a visceral thing.”
“This is one of those things that is going to matter this election,” he said. “It’s a Republican-created problem.”
Marshall Fitz, managing director of immigration for the Emerson Collective, said many advocates were surprised by the degree to which Democrats compromised with Republicans, pointing to the “obscene” $25 billion for wall funding in one bipartisan proposal.
“It certainly created a lot of concern on the Left but I think that that’s indicative of Democrats appetite for really trying to get to ‘yes,’ and protect the Dreamers,” Fitz said. “They’ve been willing to give him his signature campaign issue, a wall, despite it being offensive to so many Democrats. They’ve been willing to do it in exchange for solving the problem and he keeps moving the goal post.”
Fitz said if Congress reaches March 5 with no solution, hopefully “there will be a reckoning among Republicans, particularly among moderate Republicans in House, that have a real political interest in getting this done.”
If moderates pressure Republican leadership as effectively as conservatives, Fitz said, they may be able to get a vote on a bipartisan bill. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has said he will only bring up legislation if it is backed by the president.
House Democrats took some blame, namely that they didn’t move to protect Dreamers through Congress when they were the party in power.
“Where we do deserve some blame, and I’ll probably take some shit from Democrats for saying this,” said Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, who represents a district along the border. “As a party, and there are some present company, there was absolutely an opportunity to do this when we enjoyed majorities in both chambers.”
O’Rourke called the failure “inexcusable” and “unacceptable.” He expects the issue of protecting Dreamers will be front and center during the midterms.
“That has to be on everyone’s mind as we go into 2018 and 2019 with what I hope are new Democratic majorities, if for whatever reason we are unable to get this done now,” he said.
Rep. Filemon Vela, a Democrat who also represents a district along the Texas-Mexico border, doesn’t see a path forward in either chamber.
“We’re likely headed to an impasse on the issue overall and it just reinforces my position that from the very beginning our position should have been, ‘Hey, you rescinded it, you fix it,’” Vela said of Trump. “Over the past six weeks we’ve seen Democratic leadership … cave in on giving up wall funding for Dreamer relief. I think that was a colossal mistake.”
A number of Democrats have been willing to not only back proposals that provide billions to amp up border security but support money for Trump’s border wall. That willingness to bend even on a wall is why Democrats say they won’t be blamed if a DACA fix isn’t passed.
“Some bitter pills have been swallowed and we’ve been criticized for that,” Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said. “If nothing happens, it’s squarely the responsibility of Republicans.”
Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, who heads the House Democrats campaign arm, made clear Democrats will be loud in the lead up to November on the issue.
“I can’t imagine that Speaker Ryan doesn’t understand the political backlash that will result if this administration starts to deport 800,000 Dreamers because Congress has not taken action by the fifth of March,” Lujan said.
