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.

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?

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

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.

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).

WH did offer some wriggle rooms on those talk shows.

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).

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.

I feel like title should have been:

"Daily DACA Round-Up Shutdown Edition: 1/21/18"

Great work. Thanks man.

These are so helpful, thank you!!

Thanks for putting all this in one place!

By looks of it deal is close.... Feb 8 CR no promises on DACA but if nothing is agreed upon vote in Senate only promissed...

If that is the deal they take they better be able to shut the gov down completely on Fev 8 until we get Dream act or something passed cuz this is bananas. It’s the lowest of the low balls and Dems are about to fall for it.

Maybe tomorrow ahaha.

Also, Feb. 8 deal isn't as bad as it looks...gives Democrats and senators like Flake and Graham another leverage to shut down the government completely.

EDITED: Scratch that last paragraph. With McConnell saying he will only address DACA if there's no shutdown, the Feb. 8 deal, as it stands now, makes Democrats lose its leverage.

Hopefully moderates don’t sink us.

I still not understanding this, are they gonna have DACA like bill in place before March 5th or Feb 8th before another CR?

SO, from what I am reading, the idea is to officially start a "debate" on the Senate floor on a DACA bill before Feb. 8 but not have a vote.

Then, McConnell will decide on whether to bring the debated bill to a vote after Feb. 8, then it will be up to the House and POTUS to decide what to do.

Dems will not know if their bill will be voted on by Feb. 8, but if they are not happy with the progress, they can vote again to shut down the government.

I don't know if I'm 100 percent right on this. (https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/955245387597594624)