A disappointing federal spending bill

Republicans and Democrats voted last week in support of a negotiated agreement to fund our government and avoid a second shutdown. This agreement includes additional funding for border and interior enforcement. It does not include DACA, TPS or any protections for immigrants vulnerable to deportations. This is deeply disappointing.

President Trump was willing to shut down our nation’s government unnecessarily by politicizing his demands for a Wall to please his base. Rumors that a clean Dream Act is delayed to 2020 for electoral gain should be condemned by all Americans.

The problem appears to be that leadership from both sides of the aisle are using vulnerable immigrants as hostages for partisan political gain. We urge both sides to support actual protections for undocumented immigrants at risk of deportations, rather than to score political points with their constituencies

With border apprehensions remaining historically low, and crossings from Mexico decreasing by over 90 percent since FY 2000, now is the time for the president and Congress to come together for real immigration reform to provide permanent protections for our 1.7 million Dreamers and 400,000 immigrants with TPS.

Mike Fernandez, American Business Immigration Coalition