Lujan Grisham discusses inaction in D.C.
Gubernatorial candidate optimistic Dreamers will get answer before end of year
Congress has been “irresponsible for decades” over immigration reform, U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Friday during a speech before local business groups.
But the New Mexico congresswoman, who is running in the Democratic primary for governor next year, said she’s optimistic that Congress will act before the end of the year to protect young people brought into the U.S. as children.
“We cannot end this year without doing the right thing for Dreamers,” Lujan Grisham said, using a phrase for young immigrants who came into the country as children without authorization. “Leadership of both parties and both chambers are clear. … Negotiations are occurring all day, every day.”
Lujan Grisham was the speaker at a luncheon hosted by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association, the Santa Fe Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce.
She focused her talk on the progress of a bill to allow Dreamers to
remain in the country without fear of deportation. Immigrants and advocacy groups have been pressing Congress to act on the measure this month.
In 2012, then-President Barack Obama, frustrated at Congress’ refusal to pass the DREAM Act (which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors), issued an executive order that allowed about 800,000 undocumented young people, including nearly 7,000 in New Mexico, to remain living in the country — working or attending college — with temporary protection from deportation.
In September, however, President Donald Trump rescinded the order, telling members of Congress they would have to come up with a legislative solution. This set in motion the current effort to pass such legislation.
“It was so irresponsible,” Lujan Grisham said of Trump’s move on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the policy that offered twoyear residency permits to young immigrants. “He did not need to do that.”
There is a “tiny minority” of Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate who “are never going to vote for any kind of immigration [reform],” Lujan Grisham said. “… And they want everybody deported. … There are members who have clearly, explicitly and publicly made this case.”
But, she said, there also are many Republicans who sincerely want to pass some sort of protection for Dreamers.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which Lujan Grisham chairs, has been engaged in “high-level discussions and negotiations with every Republican subgroup on immigration in the House, and as many of those in the Senate we can get invited to,” she said.
She likes one proposed plan, Lujan Grisham said, that doesn’t discriminate against any group of immigrants and provides “a meaningful pathway to citizenship.”
Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., who supports protecting young immigrants, criticized the Problem Solver Caucus for acting too slowly on the legislation. Michelle Lujan Grisham did not criticize the bipartisan group, but agreed with Curbelo that time is running out.
That proposal does beef up border security, which many Republicans have demanded.
The proposals are being considered by a bipartisan group called the Problem Solver Caucus, Lujan Grisham said.
Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., who supports protecting young immigrants, criticized the Problem Solver Caucus for acting too slowly on the legislation.
Lujan Grisham did not criticize the bipartisan group, but agreed with Curbelo that time is running out.
“We’ve given them a vehicle, and we need to have a product by Monday or Tuesday” of next week, she said.
In the Democratic primary for governor, Lujan Grisham faces state Sen. Joe Cervantes of Las Cruces, Albuquerque businessman Jeff Apodaca and Peter DeBenedittis of Santa Fe. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs is the only Republican running for governor.