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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 12 december 2017
Fate of young immigrants divides Dems on last-minute budget

By ANDREW TAYLOR of things I feel passionate
Associated Press about. But I’m not going
WASHINGTON (AP) — For to make 300 million people
Illinois Rep. Luis Gutier- suffer because I can’t get
rez, a passionate, liberal the process working the
Democrat of Puerto Rican way it should.”
descent, there is no more House and Senate Dem-
important issue in the year- ocrats stand divided as
end budget showdown leaders look to wrap up a
than protecting from de- sweeping spending deal
portation hundreds of thou- by Dec. 22 and avoid a
sands of immigrants who debilitating shutdown.
came to the U.S. illegally as At issue is Trump’s deci-
children — and who have sion to rescind Barack
only known America as Obama’s executive order
their home. creating the Deferred Ac-
The fate of these “Dream- tion for Childhood Arriv-
ers,” as they are commonly als program, which gave
known, is one of the tricki- protected status to about
est issues to resolve as the 800,000 young immigrants
White House and Congress in the country illegally. In
seek to avert a Christmas scrapping the order, Trump
government shutdown that gave Congress until March
nobody says they want. to come up with a legisla-
House Democrats, and Rep. Luis Gutierrez D-Ill., third from left, along with other demonstrators protest outside of the U.S. tive solution.
Capitol in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Temporary Protected
their leader, Nancy Pelosi, Status (TPS), programs, during an rally on Capitol Hill in Washington. House and Senate Democrats In September, the president
insist that the Dreamers stand divided over whether to fight now or later about the fate of some 800,000 young immigrants told Pelosi and Schumer he
be dealt with as part of a who came to the U.S. illegally as children. would support the DREAM
broader package that (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Act — Development, Relief
combines unfinished leg- that includes a pathway to top of his list of political immigration. and Education for Alien Mi-
islative business, including freedom for our Dreamers,” concerns are the re-elec- “I understand the passion nors — which offers child-
military spending, disaster Gutierrez said. “It’s the right tion bids next year of 10 on that. I’m not in favor of hood immigrants a path-
aid and low-cost health thing to do.” Senate Democrats run- voting to shut down the way to citizenship, as part
care for children. Top Senate Democrat ning in states that Presi- government,” said Demo- of a broader immigration
“You want a bipartisan Chuck Schumer cares dent Donald Trump won in cratic Sen. Joe Manchin of agreement.
budget and you want my about Dreamers, too, but 2016. Many of them want West Virginia, where Trump But this fall, progress stalled.
vote? Then make it an he isn’t playing hardball nothing to do with shutting won almost 70 percent of That led liberals such as
American budget, one over immigration. At the down the government over the vote. “There are a lot Gutierrez to pressure lead-
ership to use Democratic
leverage — their votes are
needed to pass legislation
such as the budget or next
year’s increase in the gov-
ernment borrowing — to
ensure Trump lives up to
his promise. Republicans
want to separate immi-
gration from the year-end
agenda, in part to avoid
the appearance of getting
muscled by Democrats like
Pelosi and in part to try to
get a better deal. “We are
certainly willing to enter
into those good-faith ne-
gotiations, but they do not
belong in an end-of-the-
year spending appropria-
tions debate,” said Texas
Sen. John Cornyn, the No.
2 Republican in the Sen-
ate. “We do want to re-
solve this, but it’s not going
to be before the end of this
year.” For her part, Pelosi
won’t commit to helping
Republicans keep the gov-
ernment open unless the
DACA issue is dealt with.
“We will not leave here
without a DACA fix,” she
told reporters last week.q