Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director of America’s Voice, issued the following statement reacting to the White House meeting on immigration:
The results of today’s White House meeting show that there’s a deal to be had, and a deal within reach. Congress can resolve the urgent crisis for Dreamers this month.
Every day, Dreamers’ work permits, driver’s licenses, and protections against deportation are expiring. They worry about losing jobs and homes. They cannot plan their futures. They cannot reassure their children that they will be here in a month, or a year.
This is a crisis with a simple solution that most Americans support. They want Congress to fix Dreamers’ status once and for all. There is also strong bipartisan support among Members of Congress to get it done.
Standing in the way have been weak Republican leaders and zealots on the White House staff who have tried to load up a Dreamer deal with radical poison pills, in hopes of killing off the entire effort. Congress should enact a narrowly-tailored deal that starts with the bipartisan Dream Act. If Republicans insist on border security measures, then they should be cost-effective and useful, not a border wall that is neither.
Today, President Trump endorsed a “DACA fix for border security” framework of a deal – similar to what he had agreed to with Senator Schumer and Leader Pelosiback in September. He indicated openness to addressing other immigration issues later, as part of a phase two negotiation. This one-two step is the right way to proceed.
It’s now up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to follow through on the framework Trump agreed to, and include it on the spending bill that has to pass by January 19.
The nation wants it, a majority in both parties want it, and the President just said he wants it too. Get it done.
