Photo credit: REUTERS/Stephen Lam
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the House majority leader, says he won’t support a bipartisan deal on DACA because it could depress Republican turnout in this fall’s midterm elections. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) wants to pass a “Dreamer” bill before he retires from Congress next January, but McCarthy’s stance likely will kill any chances of that. Read story here.
Democrats and centrist Republicans have been working for such a deal, which is opposed by conservatives, whose support McCarthy needs to succeed Ryan as House speaker.
“Dreamers” are children who were brought into the country illegally by their parents, some at very young ages. They don’t have the rights of citizens because they weren’t born here, but may have never known any other country, and being deported to Mexico would thrust them into an alien society and culture.
Negotiations over “Dreamer” legislation have stalled because of President Trump’s insistence that Congress fund a $40 billion border wall in exchange of reinstating DACA, an Obama-era program that shields Dreamers from immediate deportation. Trump has been aggressively deporting immigrants at a time when the American economy is experiencing increasingly severe labor shortages. Trump’s incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric plays well with his racist base.
Republicans face the potential loss of their House majority in November, although recent polling shows improving prospects of retaining control. Strategists of both parties agree turnout will be crucial. A Democratic takeover would not only block the GOP legislative agenda, but also open the way for impeachment proceedings against Trump.