Are Democrats Falling For Rubio’s Trap On The DREAM Act?
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“One of the things that has already been documented is that the White House has been — the articles that have been written, two or three by now — the White House has been calling in DREAM Act advocates and asking them, almost ordering them, not to work with me on this issue,” Rubio told Laura Ingraham last Thursday on her radio show. “They have been counting on using this issue as a wedge issue in October to drive up turnout.”<br />
Blaming the White House papers over the fact that Republicans have fiercely opposed measures that benefit people living in the country illegally. House Speaker John Boehner has signaled that Rubio’s upcoming proposal won’t change this dynamic. By contrast Democrats voted overwhelmingly in 2010 for the DREAM Act, which unlike Rubio’s alternative includes the promise of citizenship for undocumented people raised in the U.S. who attend college or join the military.
Even so, administration officials and top Democrats may be playing into Rubio’s hands by resisting his effort. Part of the political calculus is that they believe the issue will help energize Hispanic voters for Democrats ahead of the election. Hispanic voters are not happy with President Obama but they prefer him by a huge margin to Republicans, who have repeatedly thwarted efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
This leaves the White House in a tricky situation. Even though immigrant-rights advocates prefer the actual DREAM Act, they still consider Rubio’s version progress — he says it’ll provide non-immigrant visas to some undocumented people and let them apply for citizenship through the regular channels. If Democrats undermine Rubio’s effort, that makes it easier for the senator to blame them when the proposal goes down, with the aim of confusing voters as to which party is on their side.
As Boehner has signaled, DREAMers ought not to expect any action from Congress in the foreseeable future. But the political upshot of Rubio’s effort is to obfuscate a clear and important distinction between the two parties among a key constituency that may potentially swing the outcome of what is expected to be a close election.
