Most Favor A Path To Citizenship For DACA Dreamers

The chart reflects the results of the Politico / Morning Consult Poll -- done between July 16th and 18th of a national sample of 1,997 registered voters, with a 2 point margin of error.

Americans Support Biden's View Of Immigration Reform

The charts above reflect the results of the recent Data for Progress / Vox Poll -- done between January 29th and February 1st of a national sample of 1,124 voters, with a 2.9 point margin of error.

As you can see, most support the reasonable immigration policies of President Biden.

Supreme Court Supports DACA Program (For Now)

During his administration, President Obama signed an executive order that would allow "Dreamers" (those brought to the U.S. as young children and grew up here) to stay in this country. The program he created was called DACA -- and if these young Americans had served in the military or gotten an education, and stayed out of legal trouble, then they could qualify. It was a good program, and is supported by a majority of Americans.

But Donald Trump doesn't like the program, and to appeal to his xenophobic and racist base, he signed an order that would end the DACA program and deport these young people (even though most of them have only known this country).

Trump's order was stopped by a U.S. District Judge. Trump then appealed that all the way up to the Supreme Court -- where he thought the new conservative majority would support him and let him deport the Dreamers. He was wrong!

On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued their decision on Trump's attempt to end DACA. In a 5 to 4 decision, they said Trump could not end DACA. Chief Justice Roberts joined four other justices (Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Breyer, Kagan) in striking down the attempt to end DACA, and wrote the decision. Four justices opposed the decision (Alito, Gorsuch, Thomas, Kavanaugh).

The decision doesn't totally protect DACA. It just ruled that Trump had tried to end it without giving good reasons for doing so, and that was a violation of the law. Roberts wrote:

We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies. “The wisdom” of those decisions “is none of our concern.” Chenery II, 332 U. S., at 207. We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural re- quirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its ac- tion. Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous is- sues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients. That dual failure raises doubts about whether the agency appreciated the scope of its discretion or exercised that discretion in a reasonable manner. The appropriate recourse is therefore to remand to DHS so that it may consider the problem anew.

The Trump administration could always try again to end the program by giving legitimate reasons for ending it (if such reasons exist). But it is unlikely to happen before the November election. That's because the program, while hated by Trump's base, is supported by most voters.

Trump And GOP Are Out-Of-Step With Public Over DACA

These charts reflect the results of the newest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between November 10th and 12th of a national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,206 registered voters). The margin of error for adults is 2.8 points, and for registered voters is 3 points.

Note that all segments of the public overwhelmingly support allowing the Dreamers (brought to this country as children and grew up here) to stay, work, and go to school in the United States. They also think the congressional Democrats agree with them.

But they do not think that Donald Trump or the congressional Republicans agree. They think they want the Dreamers deported.

Trump's attempt to overturn DACA by executive order (and deport the Dreamers) is currently before the Supreme Court. The court's decision will probably be released next June -- just before the next general election. If the court overturns DACA, that is not going to help the Republicans (or Trump) in that election.

Trump Tells Three Lies About DACA In One Short Tweet

We know Donald Trump is a liar. Since taking office, he has lied nearly 14,000 times. And he seems to be getting even more accomplished as a liar.

On Tuesday, he tweeted about DACA -- and in that one short tweet, he lied three times.

He said that President Obama had said he knew he had no legal right to sign the executive order creating DACA, but did it anyway. That is not true. President Obama never said that -- or anything even close to that.

He said that many of the people in the DACA program were no longer young. That is also not true. About 66% of the Dreamers in the DACA program are 25 or younger. And 90% are 30 or younger.

He said some of the Dreamers in DACA were hardened criminals. Also not true. You can't get into the DACA program if you've committed a felony (or several misdemeanors) -- and anyone in the program who commits a crime will be expelled from it.

Here are some charts showing Trump's lies about DACA.

Trump's "New Offer" Is A Bad One And Should Be Rejected

Donald Trump spoke to the nation yesterday. He couched his speech as an effort to negotiate a deal to open the government -- but it was just a dressed-up version of the same old effort to get his wall.

The first half of his speech contained the same lies he has been telling for ages now -- that a wall would prevent gangs, terrorists, crime, and drugs. It is simply not true. A wall would not stop any of that.

He then proposed new money for technological equipment at the border, more immigration judges, and more immigration officers. This is not new, and not his idea. This money was in the bill passed by the Senate in the 115th Congress, and the House in the 116th Congress -- and Democrats are willing to fund these things.

One real change he proposed was to allow people to apply for asylum in their own country. That's a terrible idea. It would just deny those people a hearing before an immigration judge. Trump's State Department officials could just summarily deny the claims. He wants us to believe that asylum seekers at our border are "illegal". They aren't. They have a legal right to turn themselves in at the border and ask for asylum.

But the meat of his "offer" was his desire to take a three year extension of DACA and TPS protections for the $5.7 billion he wants to start building his wall. That's not good enough. It should be rejected by Democrats. The wall is not needed, and it is not wanted by a majority of Americans. And a three year extension for DACA and TPS is insufficient. It should be permanent.

Trump claimed his proposal was a compromise. It wasn't. It's his same old lies and desires. It should be rejected!

DACA Bill Has A Slim Chance Of Passing In The House

The charts above reflect information in a new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between May 6th and 8th of a random national sample of 1,500 adults, with a 3 point margin of error.

It shows that a clear majority of Americans supported the DACA program (which protected from deportation those brought to this country as children). They know these "Dreamers" have grown up in this country, obeyed the law, paid their taxes, and got an education or served in the U.S. military (or bot). They think it's wrong and downright mean to deport these people to a country they don't know.

The public also knows which political party agrees with them on DACA. About 60% say the congressional Democrats care about the Dreamers and wants to save DACA. But 61% say the congressional Republicans don't care, and 63% say Donald Trump doesn't care. This is just one more issue on which Republicans disagree with the majority of Americans, and one more reason to vote against them in November.

A few congressional moderate Republicans are beginning to realize that. They don't like being labeled as mean and uncaring about these immigrant Americans. And they don't want to have to defend the refusal to help the Dreamers on the campaign trail.

They have started an effort to get a discharge petition in the House of Representatives (led by Republican Rep. Jeff Denham of California). That discharge petition would force the House to debate and vote on a bill -- in this case a bill to make the DACA program legal. The petition would need a majority of representatives to sign it to be effective. That means at least 28 Republicans would have to sign it, assuming that all 193 Democrats sign. If some Democrats don't sign, then more Republicans will be needed.

Can they get enough votes on the petition? Probably. But that doesn't mean the bill would easily become law. The House Speaker (Paul Ryan, who opposes the effort) could still pull some legislative tricks to block a vote. And if the bill does pass the House, it is likely that some anti-immigrant GOP senator (like Ted Cruz) will filibuster it to death.

The odds of success are long, but at least something is being done. That's more than we have seen for quite a while.

Conservative Texas Newspaper Blasts Anti-DACA Lawsuit

(Cartoon image is by David Fitzsimmons in the Arizona Daily Star.)

The teabagger/trumpista element has assumed control of the Republican Party -- especially here in Texas. These extremist right-wingers hate immigrants, and that includes the "Dreamers" protected by the D.A.C.A. program. They don't care that these Dreamers were brought to this country as tiny children. They don't care that Dreamers grew up here, attended American schools, have no criminal record, pay taxes, and have gotten a college education or served in the U.S. military. They don't care that Dreamers contribute far more to this country than they take from it. They just want them deported.

These odious xenophobes are having their heyday right now, with one of their own in the White House. Here in Texas, one of their leaders is Attorney General Ken Paxton. He has filed suit trying to get the DACA program declared illegal (unconstitutional).

Fortunately, they don't speak for all conservatives. And that includes the traditionally conservative Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Here is what the editorial board of that newspaper had to say:

Doesn’t Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have anything better to do with the time of state-employed lawyers and our taxpayer money than to file lawsuits that don’t benefit Texas?

We’re talking about the suit he filed last week against the federal government, demanding it end DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, that began under the Obama administration.

Most Texans say they support allowing the immigrants who came here as children to remain legally and hold down jobs. Nearly three-fifths - 59 percent of registered voters in our state - recently contacted by University of Texas-Texas Tribune pollsters, said the DACA program should be continued.

And the state’s biggest, most influential business group, the Texas Association of Business, doesn’t think the lawsuit makes sense, either. 

Jeff Moseley, the CEO of the Association, said ending DACA would deplete an already thin workforce in a state where businesses often rely on immigrant workers. The TAB website notes that Texans have invested taxpayer dollars to educate these young people in our public schools and often in our colleges and universities.

“This is a workforce that has received, relative to the world, some of the best education known to mankind,” Moseley told the Star-Telegram Editorial Board. “It makes no sense to us to take this highly trained group of individuals and turn them over to other countries to join their workforces.”. . .

Paxton says the suit he filed with six other states is about the rule of law. It's about not allowing a President — in this case Barack Obama — to create laws.

Paxton’s legal argument: the establishment of DACA "sets a dangerous precedent by giving the executive branch sweeping authority to ignore the laws enacted by Congress," to suit the president's own policy preferences and ignore the will of the people.

The truth is that Paxton, like other members of the Tea Party wing of the GOP, has long taken a stand against DACA recipients having legal status.

There are plenty of other Texas Republicans who want a legislative solution that would help shield the program from continued legal challenges like Paxton’s lawsuit. Republicans in the Texas congressional delegation, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn, have been working towards one, though Trump’s plans for a wall have continued to get in the way.

This Editorial Board has argued that a solution for the Dreamers should be addressed on its own merits and not be a chip in the debate over securing the border.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/editorials/article210516484.html#storylink=cpy

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In A Rare Moment Of Honesty Trump Says "No DACA Deal"

Trump is again using Twitter to appeal to his base by spreading immigration lies. The tweet shown above is just one of the tweets he wrote yesterday. It starts with a ridiculous lie -- that Border Patrol agents can't do their jobs because of liberal laws like "catch and release".

"Catch and release" was never a law. It was a policy started by the government because they did not have the facilities to incarcerate all the undocumented immigrants caught entering the country. It did not work and was discontinued 12 years ago (in 2006). It is NOT something being done today!

But there was an amazing (and rare) moment of honesty in his tweet. It was when he said, "NO MORE DACA DEAL!". That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone though. It has been obvious for quite a while now that Trump opposes any plan to protect the young people under DACA.

Remember, It was Trump that killed DACA to begin with. And while he said he wanted Congress to pass DACA, he was not serious. We know that because he killed any agreement that would accomplish that -- including a Democratic Party plan to fully fund his wall between the U.S. and Mexico in exchange for re-instituting DACA.

He told the media that it was Democrats who didn't want DACA. That's a ludicrous LIE! Democrats have always supported DACA and even shut down the government to try and get DACA at one time. It's Trump who has killed every agreement in the Senate to re-establish DACA.

Trump is trying to have his cake and eat it too. He knows his base doesn't want DACA, but he also knows the general public overwhelmingly does support DACA. The public knows these young people once covered by DACA grew up in this country, paid their U.S. taxes, did not commit any crimes, and get and education and/or served in the U.S. military. These are exactly the kind of immigrants this country needs. That's why the public wants them to stay and wants them provided a path to citizenship.

Trump doesn't want to be blamed this November for killing DACA, but the truth is that he (more even than his Republican cohorts in Congress) is responsible for no new DACA law being approved.

The truth is that Trump is a racist and xenophobe. He doesn't like any immigrant that is not white, male, and rich -- and the young people once protected by DACA don't meet those requirements. Because of that, he will happily kick them out of the only country they have ever known -- the United States. It's mean and immoral, but then meanness and immorality are Trump values.

Senate Dems Give In To GOP And Toss Dreamers Under Bus

(Cartoon image is by Dwayne Booth.)

Last Friday, I was proud of Senate Democrats. They demanded that Dreamers be protected, and the Senate include legalizing DACA as part of the continuing resolution to fund the government. When Republicans wouldn't do that, they voted to uphold a filibuster against the continuing resolution. That effectively shut down the federal government.

It looked like the Democrats had grown a spine, and were actually willing to engage in some hardball politics (like the GOP has been doing for years). It also looked like Schumer might also be a stronger and more effective Minority Leader than I had thought. It was exhilarating!

Sadly, it was just an illusion. After standing erect for a couple of days (as though they had a backbone), a majority of the Senate Democrats turned back into spineless jellyfish. 32 of the 47 Democrats caved-in to Republican demands, and voted to reopen the government. Trying to save face, they claimed they had negotiated a compromise with the Republicans. Unfortunately, the "compromise" consisted of giving the Republicans what they wanted in exchange for an empty promise from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (a man known for leaving a trail of broken promises).

What was the promise that Democrats caved to? McConnell said that if no action on DACA and immigration had been done by February 8th (the end of this continuing resolution, and if the Democrats voted for a new continuing resolution in February, then he would allow an immigration bill (that includes DACA) to be debated on the Senate floor.

Note that McConnell didn't promise a vote on a clean DACA bill, or even a vote on a mutually-acceptable negotiated immigration bill with DACA. He just said he would allow an immigration bill to be debated on the Senate floor. Since Republicans have the majority, they can load that bill with all kinds of odious things (ending family-based immigration, ending a fair immigration lottery from all countries, building an $18-$20 billion wall, building in a preference for immigration of whites, etc.). Then they'll toss in a bit allowing Dreamers to stay in the U.S. (but probably without a path to citizenship).

The final product is likely to be so xenophobic and bigoted that a real Democrat would have to hold their nose to vote on it (if they could vote for it at all). And in the chance that a miracle happened, and the bill coming out of the Senate was bipartisan and acceptable to both parties, the Democrats have no assurance that the House wouldn't butcher it or refuse to pass it. And there is no assurance that Donald Trump would help to pass it or sign it.

Here's the blunt truth about this "compromise" -- the Republicans got everything they wanted, the Democrats got nothing, and the Dreamers are now in very serious trouble.

There were a few Democrats who stood by their promise to the Dreamers and refused to cave-in to the Republicans. Here are those 15 brave souls:

• Blumenthal D-CT, Nay
• Booker D-NJ, Nay
• Cortez Masto D-NV, Nay
• Feinstein D-CA, Nay
• Gillibrand D-NY, Nay
• Harris D-CA, Nay
• Hirono D-HI, Nay
• Leahy D-VT, Nay
• Markey D-MA, Nay
• Menendez D-NJ, Nay
• Merkley D-OR, Nay
• Murphy D-CT, Nay
• Tester D-MT, Nay
• Warren D-MA, Nay
• Wyden D-OR, Nay

And here is the list of spineless Dems who caved-in to the Republicans:

• Baldwin D-WI, Yea
• Bennet D-CO, Yea
• Brown D-OH, Yea
• Cantwell D-WA, Yea
• Cardin D-MD, Yea
• Carper D-DE, Yea
• Casey D-PA, Yea
• Coons D-DE, Yea
• Donnelly D-IN, Yea
• Duckworth D-IL, Yea
• Durbin D-IL, Yea
• Hassan D-NH, Yea
• Heinrich D-NM, Yea
• Heitkamp D-ND, Yea
• Jones D-AL, Yea
• Kaine D-VA, Yea
• Klobuchar D-MN, Yea
• Manchin D-WV, Yea
• McCaskill D-MO, Yea
• Murray D-WA, Yea
• Nelson D-FL, Yea
• Peters D-MI, Yea
• Reed D-RI, Yea
• Schatz D-HI, Yea
• Schumer D-NY, Yea
• Shaheen D-NH, Yea
• Smith D-MN, Yea
• Stabenow D-MI, Yea
• Udall D-NM, Yea
• Van Hollen D-MD, Yea
• Warner D-VA, Yea
• Whitehouse D-RI, Yea

Instead Of Compromising, GOP Resorts To "Hostage" Politics

(Cartoon image is by Clay Jones at claytoonz.com.)

Months ago, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ended. Also months ago, Donald Trump issued an executive order that would end DACA (which protected immigrants brought to this country as children -- and have graduated from American schools and going on to higher education or served in our military, while committing no crimes).

Republicans know that the American people overwhelmingly support both CHIP and DACA, and they have repeatedly said they want to pass both programs (especially since the continuing resolution failed and the government was shut down). That is obviously a lie.

If they really wanted to re-instate both CHIP and DACA, they could have brought them both the the floor of the House and Senate for a vote -- and both would have passed. But they have not done that. Instead, they have, in effect, taken both these programs hostage. They want to use them to force Democrats to agree with other things they want -- attaching CHIP to the continuing resolution to fund the government, and attaching DACA to comprehensive immigration reform.

Why have they done this? Because they cannot control the members of their own party, and need Democratic votes. But instead of compromising, which the Democrats are willing to do, the Republicans prefer the heavy-handed and unethical tactic of holding CHIP and DACA hostage -- which is nothing more than extortion.

Now they have added a third group of hostages in an attempt to force Democrats to agree to their continuing resolution -- the members of our military. Republicans have whined about our soldiers, sailors, and airmen not getting paid during the government shutdown. But whining is all they want to do. Democrats have tried to bring up a bill that would continue military pay during the shutdown -- but Mitch McConnell and his Republican cohorts refuse to allow that to come to the Senate floor for a vote. They prefer to use the military as hostages to gain their own political ends.

The Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House, but have shown themselves incapable of governing. That's why they are resorting to hostage politics -- and it is deplorable! They must be voted out of power in November.

Americans Want The DACA Policy To Be Reinstated

Congress is currently arguing about whether to protect "Dreamers" by reinstating the DACA policy that protected them from being deported. These are individuals brought to this country as small children. They grew up here, do not have a criminal record, and are getting an education or serving in the U.S. military. In other words, they are exactly the kind of immigrants this country needs. And if Congress doesn't act, these 800,000 to 900,000 Americans will be subject to deportation in March (to a country they did not grow up in and do not know).

This is not just bad policy. It is stupid policy, and a clear majority of Americans know that. As the top chart shows, the public wants the DACA policy reinstated to protect these people -- by a 29 point margin. And that is the feeling regardless of gender, age, or race.

Trump wants to hold these Dreamers hostage to get his border wall. But that border wall is not supported by a majority of Americans. It is opposed by a 10 point margin. Holding the Dreamers hostage may play well to Trump xenophobic and racist base, but it is not going to win him any friends in the general population -- and if these Dreamers start getting deported, then the GOP will pay for it at the polls in November.

These charts use information in a new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done on January 8th and 9th of a random sample of 1,500 adults (including 1.327 registered voters), with a 3.3 point margin of error (2.9 points for registered voters).

A Significant Majority In U.S. Support The DACA Program

Donald Trump recently kept a promise to his racist/xenophobic base voters by issuing an executive order that overturned DACA (the program that protected immigrants brought to this country as children, and who serve in the military or get an education). But his action was not popular with the public as a whole.

It turns out that 55% of the general public support the DACA program, while only 30% oppose it. The only group with more opposing than supporting DACA is Republicans, and it is close even with that group (42% supporting and 47% opposing).

This is probably why Trump has partially walked back his action, saying Congress should pass a bill creating a new DACA program. I think he was surprised by the strength of the opposition to his action.

The chart is made from information in a new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between September 10th and 12th of a random national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,313 registered voters), with a margin of error of 3.2 points.