Schumer pledges to save DACA
Senator, at Houston bash, says Democrats won’t back down
Five days after the federal government shutdown ended, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made clear during a stop in Houston that Democrats are ready to dig in even deeper on key immigration reforms until they get what they want.
“We Democrats have made a stand,” the New Yorker and topranking Democrat in the Senate told more than 100 people at a private fundraiser Saturday near Hobby Airport.
“When Trump shut down the government, we said, ‘No, we’re going to stand up for the Dreamers.’ And we are not backing off,” he declared.
Schumer said Democrats won’t stop until people brought to the United States illegally as children by their parents are not deported to countries they’ve never known. Those people are often called “Dreamers,” and more than 700,000 have been protected from deportation under executive orders put in place by former President Barack Obama.
President Donald Trump rescinded those orders in 2017, putting hundreds of thousands in jeopardy of being deported unless Congress acts.
Texas has more than 140,000 people who have been given protection under DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
“I will not rest — all of us will not rest — until the Dreamers are given the ability to stay and a path to citizenship,” Schumer said to a loud round of applause.
Schumer pointed to Houston, like New York, as an example of a diverse community where immigrants have come from all over the globe to contribute and build a strong city. He said most Americans don’t like the anti-immigrant tide that Trump has been among those trying exploit politically. A ‘vicious’ wave
“This anti-immigration wave we are having here is vicious; it’s nasty,” Schumer said.
Schumer, 67, has been the Senate minority leader since the start of 2017 when the New York senator took over the position previously held by then-Sen. Harry Reid. Schumer has been in the U.S. Senate since 1998. In 2016 he was re-elected to his fourth sixyear term.
Who is responsible for the government shutdown has been hotly contested in D.C. While Schumer has called it Trump’s shutdown, Republicans have used a social media hashtag #SchumerShutdown.
On the street out front of the Houston Marriott South, a few Republican activists holding signs blamed Schumer.
“He has some nerve coming here after shutting down the government,” Houston Republican Bob Hall said.
Schumer did not speak to reporters at the event and used a back entrance at the hotel to get to and from the airport. ‘Get the Senate back’
Schumer was in Houston for a fundraiser for U.S. Senate Democrats. Besides Schumer, U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, and Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana, we also at the event. El Paso Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas, also was part of the fundraiser.
The event was hosted by prolific Democratic donor Tahir Javed, who is also running for Congress in Houston.
“It’s even more important for us to get the Senate back,” Javed said.
Javed is one of seven Democrats running in the 29th Congressional District to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston. He said even though he is focused on his own congressional race, he wants to help Democrats take back the Senate.