By Kristina Peterson and Laura Meckler
WASHINGTON -- A long-running fight over immigration threatens to
spark a government shutdown later this month and add to
Republicans' political and policy challenges moving forward.
GOP lawmakers are divided over when to tackle one of the most
inflammatory issues to their voters: how to handle the fate of
so-called Dreamers, young people brought to the U.S. illegally by
their parents.
President Donald Trump in September ended an Obama-era program
shielding them from deportation, with the protections beginning to
expire in early March. That gave Congress six months to pass
legislation protecting them. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D., Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.)
are expected to meet with Mr. Trump and GOP leaders on Thursday to
discuss year-end legislation.
Many conservatives insist that, if Congress is to protect
Dreamers, it also must approve tougher enforcement measures opposed
by Democrats, such as funding for a border wall with Mexico or
tougher rules for people seeking to immigrate to the U.S.
But an increasing number of Republicans, including many facing
tough re-election campaigns next year, are voicing support for
legislation that would protect the Dreamers without making those
demands. They are concerned that a failure to act now could damage
their ability to hold their House majority in next year's midterm
elections.
On Tuesday, 34 House Republicans, including 12 representing
districts Democrat Hillary Clinton won in last year's presidential
election, signed a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.)
urging him to bring legislation to the floor this year preventing
the Dreamers' deportation.
"I'm highly confident we'll get it resolved because the politics
of not dealing with these kids in a fair fashion would be
devastating," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said Wednesday. "It
would destroy our ability, particularly with the Hispanic
community, to grow."
According to an October Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, more
than seven in 10 Hispanic adults disapprove of Mr. Trump's job
performance, with 22% approving.
Mr. Ryan is looking to push the matter into next year, saying
Congress has until March. He says he doesn't intend to include any
immigration measures in the spending bills likely to come up on
Capitol Hill this month.
The Republican leadership is reluctant to pair the two because,
in part, that would give Democrats the opportunity to use the
leverage they have over the spending bills. Their votes are needed
to pass budgetary legislation in the Senate and very likely in the
House. Spending bills need 60 votes to clear the Senate, where
Republicans only hold 52 seats
Immigrant-rights advocates are pushing hard for a resolution
this year. That is also the message from such pro-immigration
advocates as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose stances more often
align with Republicans.
"We are passionate about this issue because it is a matter of
principle and fairness," Chamber President Tom Donohue wrote this
week.
The government's current funding expires at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Lawmakers are expected to pass a two-week patch this week keeping
it running through Dec. 22, although defections from conservative
House Republicans could scramble that plan.
That is setting up a Christmastime showdown. Some Democrats say
they won't pass any year-end spending bill that doesn't provide
certainty for the young immigrants, though Democratic leaders
haven't taken that stance. GOP leaders may try to approve another
short-term bill funding the government into January but may not
have the votes for that.
Advocates say they are confident Democrats will fight for
Dreamers, but say one wild card is Mr. Trump, who may see a
government shutdown as politically helpful to his relationship with
the core supporters who sent him to Washington to shake things
up.
Congressional Republicans have said there won't be a shutdown.
On Wednesday, though, Mr. Trump floated that possibility. At a
cabinet meeting, he said Democrats would be responsible for a
shutdown if they insisted on immigration measures he viewed as too
lax.
"The Democrats maybe will want to shut down the country because
they want people flowing into our country, and I want people coming
into our country but I want to vet those people," Mr. Trump
said.
Mr. Graham said he is urging Mr. Trump to strike a Dreamer deal
in exchange for tighter border security and new limits on visas
available to family members of immigrants. Most Democrats expect
border security to be part of an agreement, but they are resisting
other GOP demands, such as tougher workplace enforcement.
Many Republicans are already nervous that Mr. Trump's
unpopularity among independents and swing voters could hurt them
next year at the ballot box. Democrats need to flip 24 seats to
take control of the House. Twenty-three Republicans hold seats won
by Mrs. Clinton, and a significant handful of them retiring.
GOP leaders' delay in tackling the Dreamer issue has some
worried that the party is alienating Hispanic voters.
"We have done such a poor job with that population. We could
basically erase the border and [Hispanics would] still be like
'Republicans are bad people,'" said Rep. Mark Amodei (R., Nev.),
who said he was frustrated that GOP leaders haven't indicated any
plans to consider immigration legislation.
"Tell me what the political genius in that is," he said. "It's
lost on me."
--Louise Radnofsky contributed to this article.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and
Laura Meckler at laura.meckler@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2017 05:44 ET (10:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.