The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who were hopeful they could negotiate with Chief of Staff John Kelly on Dreamers, have grown frustrated with him due to inability to establish a good working relationship.
“We all thought, we hoped we were going to get somebody who was going to be reasonable, rational, looking at the facts,” said Representative Nanette Barragán. Amid the ongoing immigration debate, following President Donald Trump’s announcement to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Latino Democrats hoped they could rely on Kelly in negotiating a reasonable deal on beneficiaries of the program. Over time, they say, Kelly proved to take the same harsh stance toward Dreamers and pass severe immigration measures.
“We want to trust him, we want to believe he’s a partner, but time and time again, he’s got a particular mind-set and he’s not willing to be open-minded, listen to our concerns and address them,”California Representative Linda Sánchez said.
She added that as members of Congress, and a “coequeal branch of government”, they were affected by all that. Earlier this year, Latino Democrats described Kelly as unwilling to compromise on some issues. Their growing frustration with Kelly was further fueled in June by his endorsement of a measure imposing penalties on sanctuary cities which do not enforce federal immigration laws, as well as by his refusal to give support to a bipartisan deal to protect undocumented immigrants. However, numerous administration aides stood by his actions.
“During his time at DHS, Secretary Kelly was not shy about defending the honorable women and men of the Department of Homeland Security — who every day enforce the laws Congress has adopted — against invalid and politically driven criticism,” the DHS assistant secretary for public affairs said.
A number of Democrats, among which caucus members as well, plan to withhold support for a spending bill due next month, thus risking to shut down the government, if lawmakers on Capitol Hill don’t strike a deal on the future of DACA recipients, The Hill reports.
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