With the end of the legislative session just days away, it seems that prospects for an end-of-year legislative fix to the vacuum created by the loss of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not likely.
Senate Majority Whip, John Cornyn, told the press on Monday that the Senate would not consider immigration legislation, but may proceed with a measure in January.
“The president has given us enough time to deal with this before March, and so I think that’s plenty of time and I expect us to meet it,” Cornyn said. “If we can’t, then the president could extend the deadline if he chose to do so. But, this is something we’re going to turn to, I’m sure, in January.”
In President Trump’s termination of DACA on September 5, his supposed goal was to force Congress to act to save Dreamers. Whether or not our representatives will deliver is uncertain, since the Dream Act has failed to pass since its inception in 2001.
Trump’s irresponsibility in passing the baton to Congress is only matched by those representatives and senators who constantly push off immigration reform, exhibiting a careless disregard for thousands of families, neighbors, and workers whose futures hang in the balance.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said that about 22,000 DACA recipients were unable to meet the Trump administration’s unreasonable October 5 renewal deadline, which has faced a slew of criticism in its aftermath.
Every day since DACA’s end, about 122 more recipients have been losing their protected status, amounting to 851 recipients each week falling into legal limbo. By Christmas Day, a total of 13,500 DACA recipients are expected to lose their legal status, as well.
In the Trump administration’s attack on immigrants, he has exacerbated the very problem he pledged to “fix” by creating even more undocumented immigrants. Those who lose their legal status will not simply self-deport. They are here to stay, and they will continue to fight for true American values.
