DACA Blues

Jeff Sessions announced yet another short-sighted von Clownstick decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals within six months. A well-functioning Congress is now tasked with fixing the problem. It could end up being a way to get the Wall funded. How bad does it have to be when even the Chamber of Commerce blasts the decision?

The original DACA program announced in 2012 was premised on sound public policy, and unlike DAPA, it was not challenged in court. Individuals enrolled in good faith and became ingrained in our communities and the nation’s economy. To reverse course now and deport these individuals is contrary to fundamental American principles and the best interests of our country.

Update (September 6):  I like this characterization from Heather Digby Parton.

[T]he focus now moves to Congress, where members looked as if they’d been run over by a Mack truck on their first day back in session. Nobody wants to deal with this highly emotional hot potato in the middle of what was already going to be a brutal September.

And since most Republicans have previously voted against solving the problem, they expect concessions from Democrats in exchange for their support now.

“Hopefully there will be some give and take and we can accomplish something,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said, suggesting Democrats could support efforts to boost border security.

But Steven Rosenfeld recalls how Republicans might end up with the most to lose.

[T]here is a strong precedent that more than suggests [von Clownstick] has crossed a line and the GOP is poised to lose Latino voters, the nation’s fastest-growing population, and that will help push the party from power. That precedent is California’s Proposition 187, a 1994 law that never took effect, but which barred visa-less immigrants from receiving state welfare benefits. The GOP-backed law energized non-whites to push the GOP into political exile in the nation's most populous state.

Update (September 10):  Eliza Newlin Carney thinks Republicans are going to pay a price for the DACA decision.

[W]ho really believes that this GOP-controlled Congress can enact a bill to save DACA by this spring? Republicans have killed or blocked immigration legislation three times in the last decade. Multiple DACA-related bills that span the ideological spectrum are back on the table, but between lawmakers’ packed legislative schedule and the internal GOP disputes that have paralyzed Congress all year, it’s hard to imagine a sudden immigration breakthrough.

If anything, the basic rift that perpetually tears Republicans apart on immigration—between nativist hardliners and pragmatic business conservatives—is now deeper than ever.

Update (September 13):  Do Democrats have another deal with von Clownstick?

Update (September 14):  Not yet.

Polls show the deal making hasn't hurt Dear Leader with his base and the fallout might not be clear for the midterm elections. Heather Digby Parton is skeptical about a DACA deal.

[T]his is an issue that is much tougher for the GOP to swallow, and one can assume it’s going to be a battle. For all the hosannas from the Beltway press about [von Clownstick's] “pivot” to the Democrats, the fact remains that the Democrats don’t control Congress. And at this point, nobody knows how much clout [Fuckface von Clownstick] still has with the Republicans.

Update (September 15):  Well, some supporters are pissed off enough to burn their hats and complain that von Clownstick is going soft on the Wall. Rick Wilson has no sympathy.

[Y]ou elected a guy who has broken every promise he's ever made to his wives, his bankers, his partners, and to you.

Update (January 9, 2018):  Amid talk that von Clownstick has upset conservatives just by mentioning "comprehensive immigration reform", a US District Judge issued an injunction against ending DACA protections.

Update (January 17, 2018):  Senator Lindsey Graham thought he could flatter Dear Leader into an immigration agreement. But a bipartisan meeting was ambushed by hardliners and Heather Digby Parton says he got played.

Like so many of [Fuckface's] close confidantes before him, Graham was stabbed in the back by the man he thought he was guiding. He was outmaneuvered by other "guides" who understand the dark impulses that drive their leader much better than Graham ever will.

Update (January 21, 2018):  The administration rescinded DACA to pressure Democrats on the wall, and then Fuckface starts cracking down harder on undocumented immigrants while rejecting bipartisan deals. Juan Mendoza has a message for him.

Seventy percent of Latinos in this country know [at least] one undocumented person, whether that’s a friend or family member. If you do not take care of the Dreamers, those Latinos are going to organize and vote all of you out of office.

Update (January 22, 2018):  Democrats supposedly have a promise from Mitch McConnell for a vote on DACA, but Heather Digby Parton questions whether Republicans really want a fix.

The Republican majority in Congress has been playing Russian roulette with the Dreamers for years now. They have blocked every single solution to the problem, and it's irrational at this point to believe they are acting in good faith.

Update (February 5, 2018):  Matthew Sheffield argues that while a DACA deal would probably disappoint Democrats, it would likely enrage Republicans.

Update (February 26, 2018):  The Supreme Court declined to hear the administration's appeal of the District Court injunction.

Update (April 1, 2018):  Today's message from Fuckface:

NO MORE DACA DEAL!

Update (April 22, 2018):  The Young Turks report on a Tennessee town upset by a local ICE raid. The town, of course, overwhelmingly voted for Fuckface and Cenk Uygur suggests that conservatives have a smaller concept of "us" than progressives. They aren't concerned about repressive policies unless it happens to someone in their circle.

Update (June 8, 2018):  Republicans are struggling to put together an immigration bill moderates and conservatives can agree on. Meanwhile, a discharge petition is close to having enough signatures to force a vote on a Democratic proposal.

Update (June 22, 2018):  Dear Leader now thinks Congress should wait until November's "Red Wave" to get anything done.

House Republicans seem to understand that no immigration bill that could pass the Senate could pass the House. That is unless the House passes a bill with nearly all Democrats and a couple of dozen Republicans. But, the two dozen Republicans who signed a discharge petition to force a vote on immigration are outnumbered by rank-and-file Republicans who don’t want to actually work with Democrats, at least not in a way that would require actual policy concessions.

Update (June 26, 2018):  Another immigration bill is likely to fail in the House.

Ultimately, it’s a win for leadership because the whole goal of this immigration exercise was to prevent the discharge petition.

Maybe we just have to wait until enough old white men lose their seats in Congress.

Update (August 7, 2018):  It looks like DACA will be facing contradictory court rulings.

Update (January 23, 2019):  The Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal of a lower court ruling that prevents the Administration from ending DACA.