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Activists are divided between pushing for clean DREAM legislation and trying to compromise with Trump, and are staring at each other across tactical lines.
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A recent weekly call of progressive groups to hash out DACA strategy was pock-marked with frustration, as participants questioned why Latino groups were working with conservatives who validate the White House, according to someone with knowledge of the call. "There have been tense conference calls and concern of leaking strategy to Republicans," the source said.
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Rocha's work with the bipartisan DACA group hit a snag even before its launch, when the burgeoning coalition couldn't come to an agreement on what principles it would back in negotiations between Congress and the White House, choosing instead to just broadly announce support for protecting DREAMers.
But Rocha said his open arms to the administration have helped in other ways. Rocha spoke to BuzzFeed from the airport, as he headed to Washington to have a follow-up meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to provide them with documentation for detained veterans without US citizenship to help the veterans get medication for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Rocha's goals are lofty — to "reassert LULAC on the national political scene," he said, being of the belief that few Latino organization actually have connections in the Trump White House. His approach has drawn detractors from outside the group.
Two national progressive Latino leaders told BuzzFeed News that Rocha's agenda does not line up with what the Hispanic community is asking for, a fight that's playing out among Democrats more broadly over what to demand from the White House in a DACA deal.
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"You can’t start compromising before seeing what’s going to be on the table," said Erika Andiola of Our Revolution, the Sen. Bernie Sanders-driven group. Andiola said the traditional politics and give-and-take advocacy approach that worked during Barack Obama's presidency is no longer feasible.
"We don’t have insiders working with the administration like we had with Obama," she said. "We have a very unstable president."
Rocha dismissed a clean DREAM Act as fantasy in the current political environment.
"While we would like to see a clean DREAM Act passed, the reality is we know that’s not going to happen, so what’s the alternative? Give me an alternative so we can support it," he said.
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Andiola said the devil will be in the details, concerned that her side will give in on interior enforcement without realizing the way increased policing would terrorize her community.
Rocha was upbeat.
"If that’s what they’re going to hitch DACA to, OK, lets get behind it," he said. "Eventually the spending bill has to get approved, and it would be a great Christmas gift to a lot of people unsure about their future."
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https://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarra...Vom#.rmarKLdGq
The article sounds a lot like the back and forth we have on the forum.