4 Immigration Bills Failed Before Senate : Fate Of 690,000 DREAMers On Snooze?
On Thursday afternoon the Senate had four failed immigration Bills on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The DACA program affects about 690,000 DREAMers who were illegally brought to the USA as children. There were four immigration bills proposed and all of them failed to attain the required 60 votes.
The Coons-McCain Bill failed 52 to 47. It proposed:
• Citizenship plan for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants who arrived in the USA as children
• No fund for border wall, but proposed border security measures
The Toomey Amendment Bill failed 54 to 45. It proposed to withdraw federal funding from the sanctuary cities which refused to enforce federal immigration policy.
The bipartisan group a.k.a. Common-Sense Caucus’ Bill failed 54 to 45. It proposed:
• To provide a citizenship plan for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants who arrived in the USA as children
• $25 billion for border security
• Prevented DACA recipients from sponsoring their parents for legal status
The Grassley Bill failed 39 to 60. It was opposed by a significant number of Republicans. It proposed:
• $25 billion for border security
• Curtail family immigration substantially and elimination of diversity visa lottery program
The deadline set by President Trump for the immigration bill is just around the corner, i.e., March 5th and it doesn’t seem likely that a Bill would pass with bipartisan support. The most crucial thing for any proposed Bill is, of course, the support of President Trump. But President Trump’ agenda seems to be fixed on gutting the current immigration system and procure funds for his border wall!
With extreme views on the issue of Stephen Miller – Trump’s advisor on immigration, it seems that the DREAMers would be in limbo until March 5th. Even thereafter the chances of them being able to stay in the USA legally looks bleak. The Courts are not likely to rule upon a bipartisan issue like this and lose face if the Senate bypasses it for contradictory immigration laws.
The biggest sufferers of these doomed bills are the 690,000 DREAMers, their parents who brought them to the country, and their children who are now US citizens by birth. With Trump insistent on eliminating the diversity visa lottery system and the so-called “chain immigration”, there is barely any chance of these families being together under this administration for much longer.
The only thing this administration and the Senate seems to be doing at this point is hitting snooze on the DACA reforms Bill until the deadline. People can only wait with bated breath, hoping to possibly wake up in an America where they can live with their families without the fear of deportation.
