Cruz does the dirty work as GOP Senators in tight races are nowhere to be seen
Sen. Dick Durbin went to the Senate floor this morning to ask unanimous consent for HR 6, the Dream and Promise Act, be brought up for a vote in the Senate. The bill, passed a year ago in the House of Representatives, would put DACA recipients, Dreamers and TPS holders on a path to citizenship.
Sen. Durbin spoke eloquently, as he has done on many occasions over many years, about immigrant heroes, including Cinthya Ramirez, a Dreamer and health care professional with DACA. She would be able to remain in America permanently if the Dream and Promise Act was approved.
Immediately following Sen. Durbin’s remarks, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas came to the floor to object to Sen. Durbin’s motion, blocking a vote on the Dream and Promise Act for now. In response to Sen. Durbin’s focus on a young immigrant who is risking her life to save ours, Cruz lurched to the go-to play in the Trumpian GOP and talked about immigrants who commit crimes.
The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
Dreamers and TPS holders are Americans in all but paperwork. Strong majorities of the American people want them to remain here permanently, a bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives passed legislation a year ago to enable them to remain here permanently, and the Supreme Court recently ruled in a way that essentially threw the issue back to Congress. Legislation to formally recognize Dreamers and TPS recipients as the Americans they already are is long overdue.
Republicans in the Senate — and clearly, the Republicans in races to save their jobs this year — know the power of DACA and Dreamers and the esteem that is held for them by the American people. They can read the polls. But when it comes time to stand up and be counted, Republican Senators hide under their desks and send out Senator Ted Cruz to front for them and to demonize immigrants as lawbreakers and criminals. Classy.
It’s worth noting who didn’t get sent to the floor to trash immigrants and thwart Dreamers and TPS holders. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Martha McSally (R-AZ) and David Perdue (R-GA) were nowhere to be found. They face reelection in diverse states and dehumanizing immigrants a la Donald Trump and Ted Cruz may not play very well outside of the shrinking cul-de-sac that is Trump’s core of white grievance voters.
Once again, Senator Dick Durbin, backed by the Senate Minority Leader, led the charge to enact a permanent solution for those who have been here for so long and contributed to our nation so much. And once again, Republicans blocked such legislation. This highlights how important it is in 2020 to not only defeat Trump but to defeat the cowardly and cynical enablers of Trumpism in the Congress.
