Proponents of legislation to legalize people who came to the United States illegally as children are tying opponents of the bill to the white nationalists who protested in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.
“We are quite confident” a majority would vote for the Dream Act legislation, Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice Education Fund, told reporters Monday. “The real question is, does the Republican leadership want to side with the party on display in Charlottesville this weekend, or with 80 percent of Americans who want people to become Americans who already are in spirit?”
Three Senate Republicans are co-sponsors of a Senate bill to legalize young people who arrived here illegally as children.
But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not scheduled a vote on the bill or signaled whether he would do so in the future. Congress has failed in past attempts to pass the legislation.
It has been more than five years since President Barack Obama moved administratively to legalize so-called Dreamers through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Some states are threatening to challenge DACA in court and President Trump has not promised to maintain it although the administration said it would not seek to revoke Dreamer work permits.
Democrats and some Republicans want the move to become permanent.
Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said Monday the fate of the Dream Act legislation rests with McConnell, whom she said could be influenced by the bill’s main sponsor, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what he does,” Harris said. “We need a permanent solution, which is to pass the Dream Act.”
Harris said if Congress does not take up the bill, they would continue to advocate for the Dreamers, who she said are contributing to the economy and making America safer.
“They are wide-eyed, they have dreams about their future, they are excited about participating, they want to serve,” Harris said. “In fact, they are serving. Let’s just keep telling their story.”
