Dreamers, community activists wonder how political tensions from verdict will affect chances of reviving DACA policy.
Dreamers and community advocates are left to wonder how the political tensions from the case might affect chances of seeing policy revived
A San Francisco jury shocked the nation Thursday when it found an undocumented immigrant not guilty of murder and involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Kate Steinle.
Now, with Congress’ deadline to salvage a program protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation fast approaching, “Dreamers” and immigration advocates are wondering how the political tensions from such a polarizing case — one that quickly reignited a decadeslong national debate on illegal immigration — will affect the program’s chances of survival.
Political analysts said the explosive verdict will probably make it more difficult for Congress to pass the long-proposed Dream Act, but they disagreed on whether it will be a fatal blow.
“This definitely was a very isolated incident and unfortunately it did get exploited during Trump’s campaign,” said pro-immigration activist Sandy Valenciano of the Steinle case. “I really do think he used it strategically to rally anti-immigrant folks.
“Because anti-immigrant folks are still active now, I think this could potentially fuel those sentiments, but I’m hopeful that this will not affect our efforts for our Dream Act,” added the Oakland resident, who herself benefits from the 5-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA.
Like Valenciano, other Dreamers and many legal analysts on Friday said that while the verdict will surely intensify opposition to illegal immigration among con-
servatives, it won’t deter Congress from passing Dreamer legislation, particularly given that young undocumented immigrants have garnered significant bipartisan support. But they acknowledge that it’ll now be a tougher fight.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s going to impact legislation as a whole in terms of whether or not Congress chooses to pass a Dream Act,” said Luisa Tembo, a DACA recipient from Oakland. “But I do think it will have more of an influence on people’s perspective on undocumented immigrants in this country.”
Steinle, 32, of Pleasanton, was shot and killed while strolling down San Francisco’s Pier 14 with her father. Prosecutors had argued that 54-year-old Jose Ines Garcia Zarate intentionally aimed a gun at Steinle and fired at her, before throwing the weapon into the San Francisco Bay and running away. But the defense argued that Steinle’s death was a freak accident, saying that the gun had accidentally fired after the homeless man found it wrapped in a towel. The shot ricocheted off the pier, the defense argued, and tragically struck Steinle before she died in her father’s arms.
Dan Schnur, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, said there’s “no question” the verdict is going to harden conservative opposition to immigration reform on several fronts.
“But support for a DACA fix is so strong that the likelihood of it being derailed is very slim,” said Schnur, a former GOP strategist. “There are probably a significant number of Republican members who oppose other types of immigration reform but still support DACA.”
Former President Barack Obama established DACA in 2012 with an executive order, giving an estimated 800,000 young undocumented immigrants temporary deportation relief and work permits. They were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and many of them know little about their home countries, having spent most of their lives in America. About 230,000 live in California — the most out of any state.
President Trump rescinded the program in September but gave Congress a six-month window to renew it through legislation.
Many liberal Democrats have threatened to withhold their vote to fund the government past the Dec. 8 deadline until Congress passes legislation for Dreamers. But some Republicans want Congress to delay any decision until next year to gain leverage.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, on Friday said he would back a tax cut deal after GOP leaders agreed to work toward establishing “fair and permanent” protections for Dreamers. But Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the second-ranking GOP leader, said Republican leaders had not promised any specifics on Dreamers, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Joe Guzzardi, spokesman for Californians for Population Stabilization — a group that proposes more restrictions on immigration — said in a statement that DACA supporters now face an uphill battle.
“The verdict, which has outraged Americans coast-to-coast, makes a so-called clean DACA amnesty much tougher, but of course, not impossible,” Guzzardi said. “Zarate’s acquittal has reignited the illegal immigration debate, and DACA recipients are part of that argument.”
Melinda Jackson, chairwoman of the Political Science Department at San Jose State, said Dreamers have reason to worry.
“As we move into the 2018 (political) season, I think this could make it more difficult for some Republicans — especially those up for re-election — to be willing to compromise on DACA,” Jackson said. “They don’t want to appear to be soft on crime or to be compromising too much with Democrats.
“This is clearly going to put the focus back on border security and making sure that immigrants who have committed crimes are held accountable for those crimes,” she added. “Unfortunately, if I were a Dreamer I would be very worried right now about what this means for my future.”