The deadline set by President Donald Trump that gave Congress time to reach a deal to help the so-called Dreamers expired Monday, which means that any chance for a legislative fix won’t happen before the midterm elections in November.
The Hill reports that the official end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program brought with it name-calling and protests, but a little certainty that Congress will move forward on the issue. Dreamers, as immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as minors are called, gathered for a protest outside the Capitol.
However, a California court blocked Trump’s order to end DACA, which gave several members of the congressional leadership a chance to do something down the road.
“There is no deadline on DACA,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said after the court’s decision.
Throughout February four separate DACA legislations were not able to get the 60 votes needed in the Senate in order for the program to be saved. The only bill left in the legislative pipeline is the conservative Republican-only House bill introduced by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte. Although Conservatives want a vote on that bill, they don’t have enough support to pass the lower chamber.
Meanwhile, President Trump used the following weeks to put blame on Democrats for the impasse, to which Democrats have responded back.
“It’s March 5th and the Democrats are nowhere to be found on DACA. Gave them 6 months, they just don’t care. Where are they? We are ready to make a deal!” Trump tweeted Monday.
“The president created this crisis. The White House can say anything they want, but reality is they created this crisis six months ago,” said Democratic Representative Pete Aguilar, one of the top promoters of a bipartisan House bill on DACA.
After Trump set the deadline in September, thousands of dreamers started losing their benefits, which sparked rage among the Democrats in Congress trying to find a legislative replacement for the Obama-era program. According to The Hill, Congress stalled in its effort to legislate on the matter, so the court injunction forced the Trump administration to keep granting renewals to existing DACA recipients whose two-year permits expire.
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