It’s time to fund the government, but legislators have put their disagreement about DACA on hold. At issue is the Democrats’ desire to continue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that former President Obama introduced. The Democrats would like the “DACA” program to be a part of the future funding bill. In fact, some Democrat senators have stated that they will vote against a bill that does not include a reinstatement of the DACA program. This is a problem because Democrats will be needed to pass the bill.
Polls have been taken on this issue, and pollsters have found that a majority of Americans are in favor of extending the DACA program. The polls also indicate that the Republicans would receive the blame if the government were to shut down. Even so, the Democrats would be taking a huge risk if they force the government to shut down over the DACA issue.
In a Harvard poll, only 17 percent of respondents believe that working on a replacement for DACA is something that President Trump and Congress must complete this year. There were 15 issues on this particular questionnaire, and the DACA question landed in the number 12 spot, and Democrats agree. Only 20 percent of these voters believe that the renewal of DACA is of extreme importance. It is true that most Americans are in favor of a DACA program, but they believe that it does not warrant a government shut down.
If the questions are worded differently, the results can turn out to be entirely different. For example, if the government does not provide money for border control, respondents are against a government shut down over the DACA issue. Only 27 percent endorsed the shut down.
Most Morning Consult polls have shown that a full 70 percent of Americans support the DACA recipients’ desire to remain in the country. However, the last Morning Consult survey showed that only 25 percent of respondents wanted Democrats to force a shut down over this issue. A total of 28 percent of respondents indicated that they were definitely not willing to do that.
A government shut down is never popular among the people. A full 63 percent of respondents stated in a Morning Consult poll that Congress should avoid a shut down at all costs. Similarly, a majority of respondents were found to be against a shut down over the building of a border wall earlier in the year.
It doesn’t matter who is blamed for a shut down. The Democrats have more to lose than the Republicans if a shut down occurs. At this time, the Democrats have excellent chances of winning back control of the House of Representatives in the coming year. If they were to allow a shut down, they could jeopardize those chances.
The Case of Illegal Immigrants
The narrative has been that sanctuary cities encourage illegal immigrants to commit crimes. It also says that a wall with Mexico’s border is necessary and that American workers are losing their jobs to illegal immigrants. The fact of the matter is that the unemployment rate is 4.1 percent, but there’s more.
Illegal immigrants are not being stopped at the border as often as they were in the past. According to ABC News, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 310,531 illegal crossers in 2017, and this is the lowest number of crossers since the year 2000. The reason this number has come down so much is because ICE has been allowed to do its job, and the number of agents has increased. Because of this, even non-criminal illegal immigrants are being apprehended just as much as their non-law abiding counterparts. According to ABC News, there has been a 50 percent increase in non-criminal illegal immigrant apprehensions this year.
Two fathers have accused ICE of separating them from their children. Immigrant advocates have stated that ICE is keeping these fathers from their children to prevent more illegal immigration from Central America.
The Republicans Write a Letter to Speaker Ryan
Because they believe that the American people are supportive of keeping the DACA recipients in the United States, several Republicans wrote a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan. In the letter, these people asked for immediate action on DACA. Some of the DACA recipients have lost their rights to remain in the country, and others will lose them in the near future. Allowing this situation to continue is causing undue distress in immigrant communities.
The Republicans expressed awareness of the fact that there are many issues about the immigration system that need to be fixed, but they believe that it is time for Republicans and Democrats to work together to find a solution to this issue this year. They are in favor of fixing our immigration system, enforcing border security and defending our nation, but they would like to do it without damaging the economy and intimidating young immigrants.
Support for DACA in Arizona
The Lacey and Larkin Frontera Fund is one organization that supports the DREAM Act, and they believe that it should not be allowed to expire in six months. They are expecting Congress to enact another DREAM Act that will replace the old one.
Lacey and Larkin started The Frontera Fund after one significant event that happened in their lives in 2007. On October 18 of that year, deputies from Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Selective Enforcement Unit arrested Mike Lacey and Jim Larkin. They were taken to two separate jails that were both managed by Joe Arpaio.
The Phoenix New Times had been publishing stories about Joe Arpaio’s misconduct. Specifically, the topic of discussion was the anti-immigrant sentiment that Joe Arpaio encouraged in Arizona. The paper also contained reports of mismanagement at the sheriff’s office and irregularities in the office’s finances. They also reported that the sheriff retaliated against opponents, kept his jails in substandard condition, mistreated inmates and unlawfully detained Latino motorists.
The particular story that led to their arrest was one that Lacey and Larkin wrote about how the sheriff crossed over a constitutional line. Allies of Joe Arpaio issued subpoenas to the newspaper’s staff asking for information on the paper’s readers, editors and writers. Lacey and Larkin decided not to comply with the subpoenas. Instead, they wrote a story about them.
Lacey and Larkin spent less that 24 hours in jail before they were released, and the charges were dropped.
In a lawsuit filed against Maricopa County, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the sheriff’s office had served subpoenas on Lacey and Larkin that were invalid. It also stated that the sheriff’s office did not have cause to arrest Lacey and Larkin. Because of the decision, Lacey and Larkin received $3.7 million from Maricopa County in 2013.
