“This has been a lost political issue, but they are still going to do that,” added Schulte. “It is up to the Democrats to decide. The Republican Party cannot prevent Democrats from passing the DREAM Act. ”
The White House shares its frustration.
“We have a lot of critics, but a lot of them are not offering a lot of solutions,” said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, on Monday.
Democrats hope that only a handful of Republicans will vote in favor of the Dreamers project, which was also approved in 2019, and a little more to approve the rural workers’ project, which is the product of bipartisan negotiations and would also renew an agricultural visa program for future migrants. Together, they would affect up to 5 million people.
Biden’s broader plan has even less support. Moderate Democrats are hesitant to get tough votes on a bill they know will be ridiculed by Republicans and are pushing for a change in approach to resemble earlier efforts that have shifted the legalization of undocumented workers to stricter border security .
Congressman Henry Cuellar, a center democrat from a Texas border district, said he would like to see “something a little more moderate, especially with regard to border security.” But he admitted that finding a deal was like a balloon: “You push on one side, expand on the other and you lose some people.”
In the meantime, Republicans can smell a powerful political weapon.
“Joe Biden and those around him at the White House recognize that this is a political catastrophe for them,” said Cotton in an interview. “They are caught between a rock and a hard point. On the one hand, you have a large number of Americans who disapprove of what they see on the border. On the other hand, you have a strong voice in the Democratic Party that downplays borders in general, that thinks that we should grant asylum to all these people ”.
Luke Broadwater contributed reports.