UnidosUS: Republican Leadership Fails DREAMers

WASHINGTON, DC—This Thursday, two bipartisan measures to deliver relief for DREAMers fell short by eight and six votes in the Senate, notwithstanding the overwhelming national support for DREAMers and the urgent need for a solution in the face of President Trump’s unilateral decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Three Republican anti-immigrant proposals, including a White House blueprint that slashed legal immigration, were also defeated.

“The Republican leadership’s refusal to broker a deal to protect DREAMers—and the shameful efforts by this White House to undermine bipartisan solutions that would achieve that—is a crisis of its own making. If it wasn’t clear before, 90 percent of Americans stand with the DREAMers. ‎There is overwhelming support for helping them. And there is overwhelming opposition to the President’s immigration plan. This administration and its allies in the Republican leadership have failed all Americans,” said UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía.

“While we, like the American public, were counting on the Senate to pass a legislative compromise to protect DREAMers living in fear of deportation, Senator Grassley opted to bring to the floor legislation designed only to appease Stephen Miller and other nativists at the White House. UnidosUS commends those Senators who supported bipartisan amendments and remains committed to working with members on both sides of the aisle who are serious about protecting DREAMers. But attempts by this administration to derail progress on this issue will not go unanswered. It is morally imperative that our leaders take action now,” concluded Murguía.