Spending package won’t include ‘Dreamer’ protections

The deal to fund the federal government through fiscal 2023 will not include protections for “Dreamers,” the name given to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as minors.

Congress is set to vote this week on the $1.7 trillion spending package that will keep the government open through September of 2023, avoiding a budget fight during the early days of the incoming GOP House majority.

Democrats especially have been keen to pass a long-term funding bill while they still hold the majority, blocking the path for provisions without ample bipartisan support.

But Democrats are also wary of provisions that a GOP-led budget could include, especially on immigration policy.

“While I am relieved that this omnibus government spending package didn’t include anti-immigrant provisions, I am incredibly disappointed to see that protections for our nation’s Dreamers didn’t make it into the final agreement,” said Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.), a top promoter of Dreamer protections.

Some Democrats made a hard push to include a path to citizenship for nearly 2 million Dreamers in any lame-duck bill, and in the process opening the door to immigration policy concessions they had rejected in past negotiations.

A potential deal between Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) provided that framework, protecting 2 million Dreamers in exchange for, among other things, supercharged interior enforcement that could imperil the other 9 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

That deal — the only one to gain real bipartisan traction — crashed last week, leaving House Democrats clamoring for a solution emanating from the Senate.

The House during this Congress passed two significant immigration reform bills, one dealing with Dreamers and beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status and another expanding immigration options for agricultural workers, but neither bill showed signs of attracting the 10 Senate Republicans necessary to overcome a filibuster.

Correa last week led a letter along with Reps. Jesús García (D-Ill.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) — collectively known as the “Three Amigos” for their efforts to include immigration provisions in key legislation — in which they called on the Senate to include Dreamer protections in the budget.

Dreamers face a twofold challenge, given constant GOP-led lawsuits to quash the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

On one hand, nearly 600,000 Dreamers who currently have DACA protections are at risk of losing their work permits and protections from deportation if the program is fully nixed by the Supreme Court.

On the other, the nearly 1.5 million Dreamers who don’t currently have DACA protections find themselves in limbo, with no recourse to apply for legal status in the country where many of them have grown up.

“This is just another example of the political malpractice that has been waged against our immigrant communities for decades, perpetuating cycles of false hope for millions. We can, and must, pass meaningful immigration reform—and I won’t stop fighting until we fulfill that promise,” Correa said.