The federal government briefly shut down late last month as lawmakers failed to agree on a budget in time to meet the deadline. Temporary funding was approved to keep the government open until later this week, with Republicans promising to hold a vote on immigration reform in the meantime. Democrats are seeking extended protections from deportation for immigrants brought into the country as children, while Republicans are looking to limit these protections and secure funding for increased border security. The large group, called “dreamers,” is currently protected by an Obama-era piece of legislation called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which President Donald Trump suspended, though it is still in place until March 5.
Both border security funding and the extent of protection for the families of “dreamers” have room for compromise, though the form of that compromise has not yet been determined with the new budget deadline of February 9th fast approaching. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who drafted the stopgap bill that ended the shutdown last month, has recently sent a bill to the house that would secure further temporary funding until near the end of this month, but would provide funds for some government functions in the meantime, according to Reuters.
Many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle speculate that the bill will be rejected by House Democrats, as securing long-term funding for some government functions while delaying a more complete budget would limit Democrats’ bargaining power in the future. The house and senate are both controlled by Republicans, though by a small enough margin that general support is still required to pass most bills. “If that’s the choice [house Democrats] make then we’ll certainly have to deal with it on Wednesday or Thursday,” Republican Representatives told reporters Monday.
A compromise bill has been proposed by Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, but the bill has run into opposition from outside of the house and senate. “Any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time[sic],” President Trump tweeted on Monday, referencing a solid wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that President Trump promised in his platform but which has failed to find funding. The bill proposed by Coons and McCain includes funds for repairing and extending existing border securities, but not for a solid structure across the entire border. The bill also calls for stricter guidelines on which “dreamers” will be eligible for protection. McCain and Coons have both been separately involved in withholding votes or voting against party lines in the closely divided Senate in recent months.
White House interference was largely blamed for last month’s shutdown as well, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said that President Trump’s Foreign Policy Advisor, Stephen Miller, was placing demands on immigration that made compromise impossible.
