Daily DREAM Act Update Round-Up

Originally Posted by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

President Trump deserves to get his wall and secure our border and for that I think the Dream Act kids are going to have a better life," Graham said.

"We're this close to a deal. I'm working morning, noon and night on it. I just talked to the vice president a few minutes ago. I hope we can get there.

Originally Posted by Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA)

There is a possibility we could see some action on this probably in the next several weeks,” Dent said, suggesting the legislation could be tied in another bill.

Dent said he wants to see secure borders, but there needs to be an immigration fix.

“We can’t stop illegal immigration if we don’t fix legal immigration,” he said.

Originally Posted by Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer

“There will not be a spending bill without a DACA provision in it, says Sen. Chuck Schumer. And says they are very close to a compromise on DACA." @WNYC

- @RebeIbarraC (Reporter for WNYC)

Originally Posted by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said a deal to replace the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is within reach, but warned Congress not to make irreversible changes to the immigration system.

Menendez warned that a Republican request to end so-called chain migration could make any DACA deal unacceptable to him, since it would take away the right of citizens and permanent residents to reunify with their family members.

Still, Menendez warned "Dreamers" — DACA recipients and other immigrants who arrived in the country as children — that Democrats might have to wait until January to use their leverage to get a good deal, rather than a bad deal in December.

While Menendez said a government shutdown without a deal in place would “acquire nothing for the Dreamers,” he said the issue could be a determining factor in whether or not he votes for a continuing resolution by the next government funding deadline, Dec. 22.

“I'm going to see what the [Dec. 22 continuing resolution] looks like,” he said. “I may very well be a 'no' vote because of the DACA thing.”

Originally Posted by Mic

“If they pass something that doesn’t protect ‘Dreamers,’ that is a black mark that will last for a long time,” Ben Wikler, Washington director of MoveOn.org, said of Democrats on a conference call Thursday. “Nobody who believes Dreamers shouldn’t be deported has any business voting for a pro-deportation spending bill this year.”

Wikler joined representatives of United We Dream, Indivisible, Daily Kos, Democracy for America, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and 350.org on the call to present a unified message for congressional leaders. The combined membership of those organizations is millions of progressives nationwide.

On Thursday, progressive organizers demanded that stand come earlier. If House Republicans pass a government funding bill, they demanded Democratic senators not support the bill without protections for DACA recipients. Several Democratic senators have said they will not use a shutdown threat as leverage.

Originally Posted by The Associated Press

The White House is embarking on a major campaign to turn public opinion against the nation’s largely family-based immigration system ahead of an all-out push next year to move toward a more merit-based structure.

The administration was laying the groundwork for such a drive even before an Islamic State-inspired extremist who was born in Bangladesh tried to blow himself up in Midtown Manhattan on Monday. It is assembling data to bolster the argument that the current legal immigration system is not only ill-conceived, but dangerous and damaging to U.S. workers.

Originally Posted by uion1715

I'll try to round-up all the rhetoric, bills and their progress, etc. on any DACA/DREAM Act relief.