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This afternoon, the Senate failed to pass any of the four immigration bills that would have protected more than 700,000 Dreamers who were brought here from other countries as children.
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The president, egged on by far-right Arkansas Senator, Tom Cotton, threatened to veto a bipartisan bill that had the best chance of the four amendments to win the 60 votes needed to pass.
Republican cosponsors of the "Schumer bill" Tom Cotton is whipping against include: Collins, Graham, Flake, Gardner, Murkowski, Alexander, Isakson. https://t.co/1snZe835XZ
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 15, 2018
Democrats refused to vote for bills that did not provide adequate options for Dreamers and other immigrants to sponsor family members’ immigration and which eradicated the visa lottery system in favor of “merit-based” immigration that would have denied entry to the forefathers of most of Congress.
Trump said last March he would revoke Obama-era protections for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, young people who worked hard to earn their place in the only country they have ever known and who courageously stepped out of the shadows for a chance to stay here.
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Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), planted the blame squarely on Trump’s shoulders for putting Dreamers in jeopardy.
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.@SenSchumer: "There is only one reason the Senate was unable to reach a bipartisan solution to DACA: President Trump. President Trump created this problem by ending the DACA program."
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 15, 2018
Trump, meanwhile, called Schumer’s bill “a vote AGAINST law enforcement . . .” — despite the fact that the president himself has attacked law enforcement every day for the past two months in his fight to obstruct the Russia investigation.
…lottery, continues deadly catch-and-release, and bars enforcement even for FUTURE illegal immigrants. Voting for this amendment would be a vote AGAINST law enforcement, and a vote FOR open borders. If Dems are actually serious about DACA, they should support the Grassley bill!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2018
He insists on attacking immigrants as “murderers and rapists,” “drug dealers” and aligning them with gangs like MS-13, even though immigrants statistically commit far fewer crimes than native-born American.
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Furthermore, Dreamers are some of the the best and brightest residents our country has to offer, including students, first responders, and military service members.
Trump and the Republicans base their immigration proposals on racism and xenophobia, which will never get past Democrats.
Democrats base their proposals on the understanding that immigrants are the life blood of America, which will never get past all the descendants of immigrants who currently occupy the Republican Party.
The only way to make progress on immigration is to vote for Democrats in the midterm elections this November.
Follow Lucia Brawley on Twitter and at luciabrawley.com.
