After Alabama, Dems Buckling on Shutdown Over DREAMers

After an entire day of thanking engaged African American voters for electing Doug Jones in Alabama, the Democratic leadership in Congress seems to be buckling on deportation reform for DREAMers. So much for engaging the rest of us to effect votes in 2018, right?

Democratic leaders aren’t going to shut down the government to save Dreamers in December.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi haven’t stopped fighting to deliver something on immigration by the end of the month. But they’ve subtly shifted their rhetoric in recent days and aren’t insisting that deportation relief be paired with a government funding bill this year.

So, they’re talking about it, but it’s not a priority. Then, there’s this.

Issuing ultimatums, they suggested, risks reducing GOP support for helping young undocumented immigrants at risk for deportation in March.

“Obviously, I want a Dreamers fix by the end of the year,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in an interview. “I’m not sure that it serves our purposes to draw hard lines in the sand in the middle of negotiations.”

This reminds me of President Obama’s failures at bringing in Republicans with a tactic that offered up and produced record numbers of deportations and lock-ups in exchange for some sort of plan. Of course, the Republicans didn’t give much of anything–even when offered a pretty bad plan.

The narrative has always been about DREAMers having bipartisan support, but I’ll remind everyone again that back in 2010, FIVE Democrats voted no on that year’s version of the DREAM Act because they wanted to protect their political hides. And that’s when Democrats had majorities! And that supposed bipartisanship was, again, non-existent! What do we have to lose when Trump and right-wingers are in charge?

In the words of President Josiah Bartlet (West Wing), “Shut it down!”

Well, perhaps it’s a strategy for Democrats to keep this particular issue alive for the 2018 elections. An attack line against the GOP to gain votes. It’s the same strategy that has been around since 2006. You know, when we were fighting for a comprehensive plan for 11 million, and not just 800,000.

The problem with this is that, whether it’s the DREAMers, Comprehensive immigration reform, or little kids escaping violence in Central America, this issue goes ignored when action is needed and used for good or bad by Democrats when needed on the campaign trail. I guess some of us are a bit tired of it.

And you know, it’s a human rights thing.

Shut it down!