DREAM Act Portal Forum - Daily DACA Round-Up Special Edition: 1/21/18

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Daily DACA Round-Up Special Edition: 1/21/18

Hello. I did not do a round-up on Friday because of the then-impending shutdown which did not become official until around 10 PM PST/1 AM EST on Saturday morning.

But here it is, your quick-ish look at everything that happened this weekend.

First, if you are not aware of what had happened before today, here's a good recap of everything that had gone on from Friday to Sunday morning (https://twitter.com/kasie/status/955094670744457216).

It has been a remarkable weekend, the weekend that has yet to end. The day will really end on 1 AM EST/10 PM PST tonight when the Senate plans to vote on a cloture motion to pass the three-week CR to Feb. 8.

Will that happen? Senate Majority Whip Cornyn (R-TX) says no.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Pergram (Fox News Congress reporter)

Cornyn indicated that if he were placing bets, he thought the government would be shut down tomorrow

https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/stat...30356625608706

Other senators have been more optimistic, as Graham and Flake have been playing "shuttle" diplomacy to get the Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to talk. McConnell and Schumer had a meeting around 5 PM EST, but senators close to the negotiations say those two haven't come to a deal yet.

Meanwhile, the group of about 25 bipartisan "moderate" senators has been working to find a solution palatable to both leaders.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) called the group's meeting today "one of the best meetings that I've ever been to" - https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/stat...81797205331969

What will that agreement look like?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Desiderio (Daily Beast Congress reporter)

Just spoke with @JeffFlake. He says the outline of the deal presented to McConnell is "to move the commitment to go to immigration—to move it sooner, prior to Feb. 8."

A hard commitment? "A motion to proceed."

https://twitter.com/desiderioDC/stat...98250822316032

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manu Raju (CNN Congress reporter)

McConnell and Schumer now discussing proposal by bipartisan group of senators: Short-term CR to reopen govt plus a “commitment” to get DACA, disaster relief, domestic/defense spending. Two leaders will have to determine what commitment means

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/955200879447171072

What will that "commitment" look like? We don't know yet, but we will know soon enough. Also, what about the House?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Fuller (HuffPost Congress reporter)

If Senate Dems get a vote on their DACA bill, even if they didn’t get one in the House, it’d put the onus on House Republicans.

The next shutdown would be about House Republicans refusing to vote on a Senate-passed DACA bill.

https://twitter.com/MEPFuller/status/955173517582110720

The battle over this shutdown has played out in the open today in Sunday talk shows. Republicans and the White House stressed that they are not willing to negotiate over DACA when the government is shut down.

The White House, especially, has tried to play down the involvement of senators such as Graham (R-SC) and Flake (R-AZ) in trying to come to a compromise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sahil Kapur (Bloomberg national politics reporter)

WH spox @hogangidley45 responds to Lindsey Graham on Stephen Miller: “As long as Sen Graham chooses to support legislation that sides with people in this country illegally and unlawfully instead of our own American citizens, we’re going nowhere. He’s been an outlier for years.”

https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/statu...21087121477633

Their messaging game? Don't let Democrats play with the government over illegal aliens. In what is a remarkable shift of rhetorics, GOP and the WH have effectively emphasized that Dreamers don't matter. Don't believe me? Well, this ad from the Donald Trump reelection campaign says it all, really (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-nm0vQwO5c).

Democrats' response? First, that they are shutting down the government not just over DACA but their frustration over having to fund the government through CR for months. (https://twitter.com/alweaver22/statu...41380074082309)

Also, that they have offered a "wall for Dreamers" pitch, that POTUS turned down despite him repeatedly asking for such a deal. Even hard-liners such as Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) have repeated this point (WH, for what it's worth, denies this: https://twitter.com/jonallendc/statu...81281540444160).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garrett Haake (MSNBC correspondent)

The big change so far in shutdown day 2 is Democrats explicitly offering to trade the wall for DREAMERS, calling for Trump to close the deal.

https://twitter.com/GarrettHaake/sta...44964815704064

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan Nobles (CNN Washington correspondent)

Schumer on the floor confirms that he did offer $$$ for the wall in exchange for a DACA fix. “the president picked a number (on funding) and I agreed... he can’t take yes for an answer.” https://twitter.com/ryanobles/status/955143389233733632

WH did offer some wriggle rooms on those talk shows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seung Min Kim (Politico Congress reporter)

Hmm, some progress? Short (Editor's note: WH leg. affairs director Marc Short) says on @MeetThePress that the administration is willing to expand legal protections to a universe beyond just current DACA recipients https://twitter.com/seungminkim/stat...02826593693701

Ultimately, it will be up to GOP leaders and POTUS to make a deal. The main conflict now, it seems, is that GOP is not happy with border security + DACA combo. It wants to tweak the current legal immigration system (As this acute analysis of House GOP's immigration bill shows - https://twitter.com/David_J_Bier/sta...68686968283138).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Susan Davis (NPR Congress reporter)

So an immigration deal needs to simultaneously win 1.) Schumer & Durbin's votes 2.) John Kelly & Stephen Miller's recommendation to Trump to endorse it. 3.) Paul Ryan's commitment to a House vote even if it splits the majority. Hmmm. https://twitter.com/DaviSusan/status/954815976842891264

Will POTUS, being frustrated, eventually decide to cut Kelly and Miller out of this and deal with this himself? (https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.b0fd4d804dce)

OR will Congress just cut POTUS out and deal with it themselves?

Those will be the key to solving some of the questions over DACA.

Looking forward... If the shutdown doesn't end today... we might be in for a long fight. Both Democrats and Republicans, as of today at least, seem pretty resolute that their positions are correct.

https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/stat...78700079714304

What will the "agreement" look like... Are both sides even willing to come to the "agreement?" There remains much intrigue tonight and I'll recap it all tomorrow. May God smile upon us tonight and tomorrow.