Congressional Republicans have come up with all sorts of ways to dodge responsibility to protect America’s Dreamers, while hypocritically claiming they support the protections offered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Some of these GOP extremists blame their Democratic counterparts for packaging DACA with immigration measures they say are too lenient. Some say they can’t approve DACA without it being coupled with more stringent legislation to secure the border. Some contend it’s irresponsible to consider a pathway to citizenship for any immigrants during the current surge in border crossings.
But with all eyes on Congress following the recent legal ruling against DACA, and with the House having already approved protections, it’s time for Senate Democrats to hold the Republicans’ feet to the fire on the issue by doing an up-or-down vote on DACA alone.
This isn’t an ideal solution. It would be far, far better if lawmakers could come up with a bipartisan reform package that looks like the House’s American Dream and Promise Act, which applies to Dreamers and beneficiaries of certain temporary humanitarian programs.
But the infuriating reality is that Senate Republicans are too cowardly to budge on immigration reform, for fear they’ll upset the anti-immigration extremists in their party’s leadership and among a racist knot of voters in their base.
We saw the same thing happen in 2019, when a bill that included protection for Dreamers failed because it was coupled with other protections. That year, some Republican senators claimed they would support DACA on its own but claimed the extra provisions in the bill were an overreach by Democrats that would add too much leniency to immigration policies.
This year is shaping up to be a rerun that will likely end in the Senate rejecting a multifaceted bill that includes DACA. The fact that some senators will be facing hard-right primary challengers next year only makes them even less open to a bipartisan solution.
Senate Democrats should instead push the GOP into a corner by offering a DACA-only bill that leaves the Republicans with no way to squirm out. If it were to fail, the Democrats’ fall-back option would be to take advantage of their slim majority to attempt approving a broader set of protections under reconciliation. It’s worth noting, however, that it’s questionable whether DACA and other reforms would qualify under the Senate’s reconciliation rules.
Whatever the approach, though, it’s past time to make DACA permanent, as a recent court decision from a federal judge in Texas once again created uncertainty for child immigrants. Although the decision left the program intact for the existing 650,000 recipients, it barred the federal government from approving any new applications for DACA.
Americans have had enough of this ping-ponging on DACA. As shown unfailingly in polling, Americans across the political spectrum fervently support a pathway to citizenship for the Dreamers.
And why wouldn’t they?
It’s unconscionable to deport people who had no say in whether they were brought here. In many cases, these children grow up as native-born Americans in every way except possessing paperwork verifying their citizenship. They attend schools here, go to church here, learn English here, make friends in neighborhoods here, and become part of our national fabric.
In many cases, Dreamers have few ties to their birth nations — deporting them would be a form of exile to places where they know almost no one beyond some extended family members, aren’t native speakers and have no idea how to navigate their new surroundings.
Meanwhile, the U.S. benefits greatly from having these immigrants in our communities, including the estimated 13,000 DACA recipients in Nevada. They and their families strengthen our workforce, pay taxes, support our schools and faith communities, and tend to strictly adhere to the law in order to remain off the radar of immigration authorities.
“The U.S. is the only home that Dreamers have ever known, and they should not be forced to live in fear of deportation,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said in a statement after the Texas court ruling. “DACA empowered undocumented youth to come out of the shadows and contribute to our communities in immeasurable ways — from serving in our military to being on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Cortez and Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., can be counted on to vote for the American Dream and Promise Act, which also was approved by Southern Nevada’s three House members — Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford.
But with Senate Republicans all but sure to reject the legislation, forcing them into a yes-or-no vote DACA would either pry enough of them loose to avoid a filibuster or at least make them reveal to Americans where they truly stand on the matter.