The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Dems vow to fight bills despite Trump reversal
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep immigrant families together at the border in the wake of rippling backlash among lawmakers, the business world, churches and celebrities — but that might not be enough for Connecticut lawmakers to sign on to two major House immigration reform bills Thursday.
The first bill, the “Border Security Immigration and Reform Act,” would provide a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers who won legal status under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump announced cancellation of DACA last year.
Under the measure, young immigrants who fit the criteria can apply for a green card after five years living in the United States. They would be considered for a visa based on factors such as education and employment status.
It would also provide $25 billion in funding for a border wall between the United States and Mexico — a provision that is likely to be a deal-breaker for many Democrats. Another provision would modify Trump’s child-separation policy by detaining children and parents in the same place.
The second legislation, called the “Goodlatte Bill” after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, fulfills most of Trump’s campaign promises. The bill would provide more funding to build a wall and tighten employment measures for immigrants looking for work here.
In the middle of the debate, Trump reversed course Wednesday amid mounting anger over border authorities separating children from families under Trump’s new “zero tolerance” policy. Members of Trump’s administration defended the policy earlier this week, exacerbating an already tense debate over immigration reform bills in the House that Connecticut lawmakers have repeatedly said they wouldn’t help pass.
More than 2,300 immigrant families were separated at the U.S.-Mexican border under “zero-tolerance,” spelled out by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in April. But the executive order signed Wednesday wouldn’t substantially change the administration’s immigration policy. The Department of Justice will still prosecute families that illegally enter the country.
“So we’re going to have strong, very strong borders, but we’re going to keep the families together,” Trump said after signing the executive order. “I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., tweeted a response to the executive order, saying that ending family separation is a “welcome and humane step” but the administration can go further to address those held in detention centers.
“Indefinitely imprisoning children& families is still inhumane& in effective law enforcement,” he said in the tweet.
High-profile figures, including the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, former First Lady Laura Bush and Pope Francis have spoken out against immigrant-family separation, with others referring to the policy as “child abuse” or fostering a “humanitarian crisis.”
Enforcement of the policy potentially violates a 1977 court settlement that limited the time children can spend in such facilities. A subsequent 2016 decision ruled that children cannot be detained for more than 20 days.
During the hours leading up to debate about the House bills Thursday, Democratic lawmakers and some moderate Republicans argued that Trump alone can end the policy without Congressional action. But demands to address the policy within the bill dominated talk on Capitol Hill as soundbites and footage of detention centers made headlines and struck a chord on social media.
Trump said Wednesday he would sign either of the two bills now in debate, but Democratic lawmakers said they’re holding their ground in opposition to the legislation despite the president’s executive action.
In addition to both bills allocating funds for a border wall, the two would also end the diversity lottery that provides about 50,000 visas to immigrants and lessen the number of immigrant asylum claims.
But Democratic lawmakers are still turning away from the House bills, with some giving their support to the “Keep Families Together Act” in the Senate.
The Senate bill, which was introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would outlaw child-family separations except in a case that a child could be trafficked or abused by their parents.
In the House, Connecticut lawmakers repeatedly said it’s unlikely the bills will pass with Democrats standing by the notion that they weren’t included in negotiations to draft the legislation and that the bills won’t effectively address border security.
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn, said he still won’t support either House bill regardless of what the president does to reverse course on the policy.
He said the president “knows he had the power” to end the policy, but now “the GOP can no longer use the children as political leverage” in their negotiation strategies.
After Trump signed the executive order, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn, said she still hasn’t changed her mind about the legislation.
“The Trump administration still needs to reunite children with their parents — a massive bureaucratic hurdle which I have little faith in this administration carrying out in a timely and orderly fashion,” DeLauro said.