Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach a consensus on what do to about DACA, after President Trump announced intentions to end to the program in 6 months (barring congressional action).
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) expressed concern that, “If we just rubber stamp a stand-alone DREAM Act, then we’re going to have another DREAM Act that we’re going to need in 10 years from now.” The House Republicans have a difficult job to balance the demands set by the Senate Democrats.
Former White House Chief Strategist, Stephen Bannon, warned that if concrete steps weren’t taken to defend the border and end illegal immigration, before the 2018, the Republicans risk losing their majority in the House. “My fear is that with this six months down range, if we have another huge — if this goes all the way down to its logical conclusion, in February and March it will be a civil war inside the Republican Party that will be every bit as vitriolic as 2013,” Bannon said during his appearance on CBS’s show “60 Minutes.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee expressed last week that the Trump administration is expecting funding for President Trump’s promised US-Mexico bordering wall to be included as a part of the immigration deal. “I don’t think the president’s been shy about the fact that he wants a wall, and certainly something he feels is an important part of a responsible immigration package.” However, as recently as today, White House aids have been reported as saying that Trump is willing to let go of Wall funding this time, if other concessions are made on border security.
“We are not making a contingency, a quid pro quo,” Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), member of the Judiciary Committee, noted in a recent interview with former Obama administration officials. “We believe … that we’ll be in a better position to make that happen because look at what we’re going to face in December.”
While, there are rumors pointing towards a shut-down of the government by the Democrats if a decision on the DACA isn’t reached soon enough, Derbin expressed a slightly more positive outlook,, “I’m not going to say that at the moment. I’m going to tell you that this is a priority and we shouldn’t leave town this year without passing it.”
On the other hand, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is pushing for a DACA fix to be wrapped into a singular “comprehensive” immigration reform bill expressed in an interview with CNN this Sunday, “That STEM — science, technology and engineering people, guest workers, a number of other provisions which makes it comprehensive. Border security, et cetera. We need to do that and so that — and make that part of it the Dreamers’ part of it.”