Force a vote to save ‘DREAMers’ from legal limbo
For the past several weeks, House Republican leaders have been in a panic over the possibility that something terrible and embarrassing might occur: A bipartisan majority could force a vote on a measure that would protect “DREAMers” and give them a path to legal status.
Perish the thought.
To be sure, this effort might come to naught. Even if at least 218 House members sign what’s known as a discharge petition, the DREAM Act would need a supermajority of 60 votes in the Senate and would likely face a veto from President Trump. Nonetheless, the effort demonstrates that the DREAMers, people brought here unlawfully as children, deserve to be treated as more than a bargaining chip.
In an effort to get more leverage for his border wall and immigration restrictions, Trump reversed an executive order signed by President Obama that had shielded 800,000 DREAMers from deportation.
Before getting into the merits of legislation directed at DREAMers, let’s pause for a moment to praise the discharge petition campaign, which appears likely to garner the necessary 218 signatures. As of Tuesday, it had 213.
For one brief moment, at least the House of Representatives might be governed by majority rule instead of majority party rule. This would happen because Republicans in swing districts — particularly in states such as California, Florida and New York with large DREAMer populations — joined with Democrats to solve a problem.
Discharge petitions are not, as House Speaker Paul Ryan has said, destabilizing. The Fair Labor Standards Act, which created the first federal minimum wage in 1938, was brought up for debate using a discharge petition. Conservative and centrist lawmakers used the discharge petition frequently during the 40 years, from 1955 to 1995, when Democrats had a hammerlock majority in the House.
That the strategy is being used to the benefit of DREAMers makes it all the better. Most of them have few connections to their old country. Some don’t even remember it. They have been in the USA for many years, have been educated in American schools, are fluent in English, and have become integral to their communities. With the unemployment rate below 4%, it makes little sense to exile them to places they hardly know.
Ultimately, Congress should pass a comprehensive immigration package that combines sensible border security initiatives with a path to legal status for many of the 11 million undocumented workers thought to be in this country.
In the meantime, the DREAMers linger in legal limbo. Compelling a vote on their status would be a sign that, on rare occasions, lawmakers can stand up for what’s right, even if their leaders try to stand in the way.
This is the first of two editorial debates on immigration. Next: separating children from their parents.