USA TODAY International Edition
‘Amnesty’ opponents are open to deal for DREAMers
Immigration talks resume on letting 800,000 stay
As Congress and the White House negotiate a deal to legalize nearly 800,000 undocumented DREAMers brought to the USA as children, they aren’t facing the usual pressure from hard-line groups lobbying for lower immigration levels.
“Rip off the Band-Aid and give them a green card,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, one of the groups that usually mobilize against any effort to grant what they call “amnesty” for anyone who entered the country illegally.
Congressional leaders have until March 5 to restore deportation protections and work permits for DREAMers after President Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program established by President Obama.
Roy Beck, who has led NumbersUSA for more than 20 years and jokes that the organization is known as the “great anti-amnesty organization,” said, “We’re open to it.”
Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said members of Congress wouldn’t face major backlash from his group’s supporters if they balance a DACA solution with extensive improvements to immigration enforcement.
“If those things are in place when the DACA recipients get their benefits, I think most of these members would have ample cover,” Mehlman said.
Negotiations resume Tuesday at a White House meeting with Trump and congressional leaders. Democrats probably will raise Monday’s announcement by the administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador, which came after it terminated TPS for many immigrants from Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan.
Why are these groups that want to curb immigration suddenly willing to go along with an “amnesty” deal? They hope to get a lot in return.
Democrats have long advocated legal status for all of the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants. In exchange,
“There’s a good case to make that they really are Americans in everything but paperwork.” Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies
Republicans have pushed for enhancements to border security, immigration enforcement and changes to the legal immigration system.
Now Democrats are trying to protect just the DACA enrollees, while Republicans push for nearly all of their demands. Trump added to the GOP demands Friday by requesting $18 billion over 10 years to reinforce or expand the border wall with Mexico to fulfill his signature campaign promise — though Mexico wouldn’t pay the tab, as he had vowed. “Democrats are coming to the table with 10% of our agenda, and Republicans are coming back and saying, ‘We want 90% of our agenda,’ ” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, an immigration advocacy group.
Trump ended DACA in September but gave Congress six months to pass a legislative fix.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer are trying to tie the DACA debate to negotiations over a spending bill, which must be approved by Jan. 19 to avoid a government shutdown. They’re also trying to pass a DACA fix in a stand-alone bill paired with border security measures.
Krikorian said DACA enrollees are unique because it was not their decision to enter the USA illegally. To qualify for DACA, they had to have entered the USA before their 16th birthday, received an education or joined the military and passed a security check. “There’s a good case to make that they really are Americans in everything but paperwork,” Krikorian said.
In October, the White House issued a long list of demands in exchange for a DACA deal. They include a crackdown on “sanctuary cities” that don’t fully comply with federal immigration enforcement efforts and funding for Trump’s wall.
Sharry said the demands could doom the negotiations.
“They’re setting up an unworkable proposal,” he said.