Democrats should stop negotiating with Republicans over Dreamers. (Opinion)

Swim19 · 02-17-2018, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Shortly after the Senate’s immigration debate concluded Thursday in abject failure, leaving the fate of the Dreamers still up in the air, three Republicans senators who had voted against the bipartisan compromise introduced a new, fallback plan. The proposal from Sens. John Thune, Rob Portman, and Jerry Moran would not offer a path to citizenship for Dreamers, as the bipartisan bill proposed, but would instead pair $25 billion in border security with renewable work permits for the narrower pool of those currently covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

This proposal should not be taken seriously. If, as Portman said in the statement accompanying the proposal, he believes that “[t]hose in the DACA program are here through no fault of their own, and for many this is the only country they know,” why did he vote against the bill protecting them that had the best chance of passing the Senate? Why did Thune and Moran, who express similar sentiments, do the same?

Let’s do a spot of math. The Rounds–King bipartisan bill received 54 votes. The three Democrats who voted against it waited until it was clear the bill would not have enough Republican support to cast their votes, suggesting that they would have reluctantly supported it if needed. Had, say, Sens. Portman, Thune, and Moran supported the bill, it could have received 60 votes and passed the Senate, protecting those in the DACA program who “are here through no fault of their own.”

Instead, Portman, Thune, and Moran waited for that bill to fail so that they could introduce a fallback measure shifting the goal posts further right, making a mockery of their professed desire to protect Dreamers. They didn’t support a bill that paired $25 billion in border security with a path to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers, but they do support a bill that would pair that $25 billion in border security with temporary protections for significantly fewer. If they think protecting Dreamers is the Right Thing to Do, why are they diluting the offer?

Quote:

It hasn’t been fully appreciated yet that Thursday was one of the worst days of the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security, the White House press office, and certain Machiavellian nativist “senior administration officials” made up and blasted comical lies about the Rounds–King legislation in an effort to keep Senate Republicans away from it. They were successful in that. They were less successful in passing their preferred amendment. The Grassley bill, a codification of the White House’s plan, would have thrown historic legal immigration cuts into the mix. In a final nonsensical demonstration to cap off the day, the White House issued a statement Thursday night blaming the Grassley bill’s failure on a “filibuster” from “Schumer Democrats.” The amendment got 39 votes.

It would be treating the White House as far too reasonable an operation, though, to assume that it even wanted its proposal to pass. As Politico reports, the White House still believes it can extract further concessions as events play out. “The White House has been telling Republican senators that it expects the Supreme Court to overturn the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling extending protections for undocumented immigrants under [DACA],” Politico writes. “The implication is that what is now an indefinite grace period would quickly disappear—and that Democrats would be without leverage and forced to accept more Republican demands in order to codify DACA.”

That right there sounds like a game that’s not worth playing. It is time for Democrats to let vulnerable House and Senate Republicans decide if they want to live with the cruelty of the White House’s decision to end DACA, or not. If they don’t, they can support a legislative punt in the form of a several-year extension of DACA, as Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake has proposed. Any further fantasies that White House aide Stephen Miller can conjure should not be entertained.

Republicans will either feel that stripping Dreamers of protections hurts them politically, in which case they will come to Democrats, or they won’t feel that, and they’ll try to jam all of their ideological end goals down Democrats’ throats. Democrats’ obligation to protect Dreamers does not compel them to concede massive reductions to overall immigration levels, as much “wall” as Trump desires, or any of their other principles that Republicans will surely come after. Democrats need to stop negotiating and allow Republicans to determine for themselves whether they’ve overreached as the March 5 expiration of DACA nears.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...h_all_dt_tw_ru

Dukem88 · 02-17-2018, 09:33 AM

Alright, let the same argunents and same discussions commence!

NotADreamerPerSe · 02-17-2018, 09:45 AM

Just playing political games with human lives.

justjohnjustice1988 · 02-17-2018, 09:57 AM

Why are we still posting "opinion" pieces?

justjohnjustice1988 · 02-17-2018, 10:00 AM

We should not listen to people that don't know what it's like to be a DREAMER.

At this point Democrats shouls accept whatever narrow version gets the 60 votes. They failed at negotiation and got steam rolled by the Republicans.

Why are we so focused on a pathway to citizenship when we all just want to work and stay here? Eventually we will get that path but not with demonic Steve Miller and Trumpeto in the executive.

Swim19 · 02-17-2018, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justjohnjustice1988

Why are we still posting "opinion" pieces?

It’s allowed as long as you point out in the title. Don’t read if not interested.

2MoreYears · 02-17-2018, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justjohnjustice1988

Why are we still posting "opinion" pieces?

Yes, don't read it if not interested.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swim19

It’s allowed as long as you point out in the title. Don’t read if not interested.

You're doing a great job so don't pay attention to comments like that.

DAP is always my preferred way of getting informed thanks to everyone's eagerness to keep the news section vibrant.

And of course thanks to you for keeping the sanity in this place in check , and that includes me. Keep the good work going!

Furthermore, everything is gonna be fine. I promise.

BeansDreamtoo21 · 02-17-2018, 10:38 AM

How this article makes me feel

tays123 · 02-17-2018, 10:49 AM

Hell no! If they are getting 25 Billion for the wall, then there should be a path way to citizenship and it should cover aged out dreamers! If we get permanent second class citizenship, nobody is ever going to come back to the issue! And why just help portion of the same population that got here of no fault of their own?...

Quote:

Originally Posted by justjohnjustice1988

We should not listen to people that don't know what it's like to be a DREAMER.

At this point Democrats shouls accept whatever narrow version gets the 60 votes. They failed at negotiation and got steam rolled by the Republicans.

Why are we so focused on a pathway to citizenship when we all just want to work and stay here? Eventually we will get that path but not with demonic Steve Miller and Trumpeto in the executive.

versailles · 02-17-2018, 10:53 AM

probably the dumbest article anyone has written regarding DACA, period.
hopefully everyone tweets pictures of themselves if they get deported to jim so he can see where dems not negotiating takes us.

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Democrats should stop negotiating with Republicans over Dreamers. (Opinion)