HOLD THE LINE FOR DACA: Budget Must Protect DREAMers

Trump Administration & Federal Government Working Group and United We Dream C2A

Update 1/22: The government is shut down. Senators have been working through the weekend to come to an agreement that will end the shut down and advance the immigration issue. A vote is expected in the Senate at noon on Monday. We will update this C2A after that vote.

THE ISSUE

After publicly announcing that he would sign any bipartisan immigration plan put before him, Trump turned down the plan developed by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), and drew worldwide condemnation for making racist remarks while discussing it with legislators. Since then, the plan has attracted more supporters, including Susan Collins and Angus King. United We Dream tells us that the proposal as it stands now (at noon on Jan. 18) is “the only proposal that has a chance of succeeding”, and they are encouraging it to move forward. While they plan to speak out against the parts of the plan they don’t like, they are not advocating opposition to the plan as a whole. Meanwhile, the government will shut down on January 19 unless Congress passes a budget or another stopgap continuing resolution (CR). The disruption a shutdown would cause makes passage of a budget critical for legislators of all political stripes, but the 60 vote requirement also creates a rare opportunity for Democrats to hold leverage on critical priorities like DACA. The CR currently being pushed by Republicans would kick the can down the road for another month. While some democrats (and also Angus King) voted for other CRs in this budget cycle, there is less appetite this time, on both sides of the aisle. Republicans are attempting to sway Democrats to vote for the CR by including CHIP reauthorization, but Trump undercut that plan by tweeting his opposition to including it. Senator King recently stated that he plans to vote against the CR, while Collins indicates she will vote for it. While this issue is evolving hourly, Suit Up Maine encourages action that supports the Graham-Durbin immigration proposal, and opposes another continuing resolution without the DACA issue being resolved first. In the event that no CR is passed, the same opposition should be aimed at the budget: no budget without a DACA resolution. There will be more objectionable items included in this budget, and we will keep you posted as we learn more. General priority guidelines can be found in the action description, below. This issue is evolving rapidly, so check back here often for updates! 

THE ACTION

Call or write all three of your Members of Congress:

• Thank Collins and King for supporting the Graham-Durbin proposal. Urge Pingree and Poliquin to support the bill if it reaches the House.
• Urge all to vote against any CR that is not preceded by a DACA fix (and thank Senator King and Rep. Pingree for committing to this).
• Urge all to vote against any budget that is not preceded by a DACA fix.
• Urge all to vote against any budget that allocates tax dollars for a border wall or enhanced ICE activities, or slashes funding for diplomatic, education, disaster relief, environmental, or health care programs, or the arts and humanities.