DREAM Act Portal Forum - Daily DACA Round-Up: 1/10/18

I am feeling little sick so will try to make this short:

The big story today was what transpired yesterday night, when the district court in San Francisco ordered a nationwide injunction to force DHS to resume DACA.

In a nutshell, this is what it means -

A. DHS must start to accept DACA renewals soon. No need to accept new applications.
B. DHS does not have to grant advanced parole.

There is a lot of confusion, still. We do not know when DHS will accept DACA renewals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Washington Post

Immigration lawyers also differed on whether dreamers should renew their status now. Some suggested that immigrants file an application to get their foot in the door while the judge’s ruling is pending. But others said they risked losing the hefty application fee and worried that some immigrants would fall prey to fraud.

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.03a7c9e9e6db)

You can read all about whether the ruling made sense or not (I linked to the ruling on yesterday's thread), and here's a good argument against the ruling: http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...-cant-end-daca

Dara Lind, an immigration reporter for Vox, summed it up the best. It seems near certain that the Supreme Court will not buy the district court's reasoning. Which means the Supreme Court may stop this injunction in the near future, but from what we've seen in the travel ban discussion, that's going to take at least a month if not more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dara Lind

Upshots from last night's ruling:
-DACA recipients have a REALLY hard risk calculus to make right now reapplying for renewal.
-No one knows how long this will go before it's struck down.
-The biggest legacy might be Congress taking the excuse not to act.

(https://twitter.com/DLind/status/951121080747520001)

Prerna P. Lal, the immigration attorney for UC Berkeley's undocumented student program, offered a counterpoint, saying this ruling may have some positives.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prerna P. Lal

I think it won’t have a chance at the Supreme Court, ultimately, but without an emergency stay from SCOTUS (Justice Kennedy may feel differently about this one), #DACA will have two more years and that matters a lot.

(https://twitter.com/prernaplal/statu...95300915429376)

Meanwhile, the negotiation is thankfully chugging along. The "Group of Four" meeting between GOP and Democratic Senate leaders happened today.

Sen. Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) had this to say about the meeting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Pergram (FOX News Capitol Hill Reporter)

From colleague Jason Donner: Cornyn asked aides to put together DACA proposal after mtg. When asked if there was a deal, Cornyn replied “Oh no..we’re just talking.” Says they need to get Trump & DHS Sec Nielsen involved.

https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/stat...03570958860295

Cornyn is optimistic that the group may be able to come to an outline of a sort by Jan. 19, but not a full bill. Another CR looks likely at this stage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Pergram

Congressional ldrs conceding another interim spending bill is likely to avoid a gov't shutdown by 11:59:59 pm et January 19. GOP FL Rep Matt Gaetz: "Unequivocally there will have to be another vote on a CR" (Continuing Resolution…the interim bill which re-ups funding)

(https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/stat...71000691052544)

Pergram's Twitter feed is well worth checking out to track the rest of the shutdown development.

There is another Senate working group discussing immigration, which has now become the Gang of Six with the inclusion of New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menedez. The group met today at 2 p.m.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tal Kopan (CNN Politics reporter)

The Senate gang of six on immigration is now Durbin, Bennet, Menendez, Flake, Graham and Gardner (the only non gang of eight veteran).

(https://twitter.com/TalKopan/status/951176576456167424)

We'll see how those groups come to an agreement. It seems like this Gang of Six is the farthest along (with Flake saying the group is "close" - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...curity-n836596).

Lastly, POTUS is always the wild card. VP Mike Pence said he wants to see a DACA bill with a lot of what GOP is looking for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VP to Fox News

"There is no deal on DACA without a wall. [Or] without ending the visa lottery program and ending the kind of chain migration that has resulted in people coming into this country that have done harm to Americans in recent months."

http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/01/1...-korean-threat

But what does this wall mean?

Well, it can mean anything at this stage, it seems like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manu Raju (CNN Congress correspondent)

Kellyanne Conway tells @ChrisCuomo that after consulting with experts, Trump has “discovered” a physical wall is not needed across entire border; part of it is better technology, part of it is fencing, etc

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/951278114457489409

I'm just going to attach this link as well as my final link, as liberal activists are also pushing for Democrats to not accept what they consider a bad compromise:

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3...on-immigration

Other stuff to follow:

Congress is dealing with another stumbling block to the spending bill - Children's Health Insurance Program. Thanks to the Congressional Budget Office estimates, however, that stumbling block may be addressed soon: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare...n-chip-funding

There are still other non-DACA huddles to the spending bill: How much should the government spend on military v. non-military, FISA/Spying measure, Disaster aid, etc. But seems like if DACA gets solved, everything should fall into place.

Also, ICE raid continues, now to 7-Eleven: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...people-n836531

Not going to mention Goodlatte's bill because I covered it yesterday, but the biggest reaction has been House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) saying he likes the bill but won't commit to having the bill on the floor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Wong (The Hill reporter)

.@GOPLeader calls Goodlatte Immigration/DACA bill a “good bill” but won’t commit to bringing it to the floor

(https://twitter.com/scottwongDC/stat...34829173100545)

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/36...migration-bill

Gotta run, but that should just about do it. Will see y'all again tomorrow. May God smile in our favor.

UPDATE: I forgot three things today, so may as well finish with it.

First is the tweet from the New York Times Deputy Washington Editor on what the court ruling may mean.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan Weisman

Democrats say that despite the court order restarting DACA, they want a legislative solution now, but the judicial order is a gift to 2018 Senate Dems who never wanted to shut down the govt over immigration. Expect Dems to fracture & gvt to stay funded.

(https://twitter.com/jonathanweisman/...62175032008704)

Second is the Congressional Black Caucus likely opposing ending the visa lottery program (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...curity-n836596). It hasn't explicitly spoke on this, but it is interesting and significant enough to warrant a mention here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NBC News

The Congressional Black Caucus is expected to oppose any end to the diversity visa, however, because it would end most immigration from Africa.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...curity-n836596

Third is Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who voted yes on Dec. 22 CR, saying he will vote no on another CR unless DACA gets resolved.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leahy

“The Republicans have enough votes to pass a continuing resolution in the House and Senate if they want. I certainly would not support something unless we had an agreement on DACA.”

https://twitter.com/JenniferShutt/st...41527790735362

30 Democrat + Independent senators voted no on Dec. 22 on CR and it would be hard to imagine them flipping if DACA isn't resolved. Adding Leahy gets you to 31.

To sustain a filibuster and shut down the government, 10 out of 18 following Democrat/Independent senators need to vote no on CR:

If you want to call them, that's: Carper, Coons (Both from Delaware), Nelson (FL), Donnelly (ID), Peters/Stabenow (MI), McCaskill (MO), Tester (MT), Hassan/Shaheen (NH), Heinrich/Udall (NM), Heitkamp (ND), Kaine/Warner (VA), Manchin (WV), King (ME), Jones (AL)