Democrats face liberal backlash on immigration
WASHINGTON — With a new deadline approaching, Democrats in Congress are struggling to adopt a unified strategy to protect hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation.
Democrats’ inaction has enraged liberal activists, who have shifted their anger away from the Republicans who run Congress. Democrats are trying to balance their commitment to a progressive priority with their desire to avoid a government shutdown — and the potential fallout in the 2018 elections.
Groups such as Moveon are threatening to champion primary challenges against incumbents who don’t fight hard enough for these young immigrants. They’re commonly referred to as “Dreamers,” based on never-passed proposals in Congress called the DREAM Act.
The liberal organization CREDO is pledging to block campaign cash from uncooperative Democrats. The pro-immigration United We Dream is preparing a new wave of camerafriendly protests at the Capitol and outside congressional Democrats’ offices nationwide.
“The unity and trust between the grassroots and elected Democrats is rapidly eroding. It could turn ugly if this goes on any further,” said Ben Wikler, Moveon’s Washington director.
At issue is President Donald Trump’s decision to rescind an Obama-era executive order that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which gave protected status to about 800,000 immigrants in the United States illegally. Many of these immigrants were brought here as infants or children and have known no other country except the U.S.
Trump gave Congress until March to come up with a legislative solution. Pro-immigrant groups report that an estimated 851 immigrants are losing DACA protections each week as Congress struggles to find a permanent solution.
Republicans are resisting a stand-alone bill to provide legal status to the young immigrants unless it includes funding for Trump’s border wall. Liberal
groups want Democrats to use what leverage they have to force immigrant protections into government spending legislation that must be passed by Jan. 19 — even if that triggers a government shutdown.
Democrats are far from united on whether they should go that far, however.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told The Associated Press on Wednesday that, like many Democrats, she prefers to pass “a clean Dream Act” before Jan. 19.
“But if we don’t, then we must do it as part of the spending bill,” she said in an interview. “We cannot afford to kick the can down the road again. We promised we would protect these young people and we need to keep that promise.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in a letter to colleagues this week, reiterated support for a stand-alone bill to protect young immigrants. Pelosi, D-calif., did not link the issue to the spending bill, even as congressional leaders met with White
House officials Wednesday to discuss plans to avoid a government shutdown.
Trump planned to meet with Senate Republicans at the White House on Thursday to discuss immigration.
A White House spokesman said any DACA legislation must be paired with securing the border with a wall, ending provisions that hamstring enforcement and abolishing a policy that lets immigrants bring a chain of family members to the country.