DACA Fix or Government Shutdown on the Horizon?
All eyes are on the U.S. Congress. There are noises that, absent a congressional fix for the DACA recipients, we may see a “shutdown” of the U.S. government.
Stephen Collinson on CNN looks at the current immigration stalemate. Unless lawmakers reach budget deal by January 19, the government could shut down, in a high-risk scenario for both parties and the President that could have expansive political reverberations come November’s elections.
Republicans, as the party in power, are again under pressure to prove they can govern while securing sufficient wins to enliven their core voters for elections that traditionally deliver a sharp punch for first-term presidents.
But Democrats are also under intense pressure — from grassroots supporters who want them to leverage the potential blame Republican Washington could face for a shutdown — to get concessions in a fiery immigration showdown over the Deferred Action on Child Arrivals program.
Unless lawmakers intervene, nearly a million undocumented migrants brought to the US as children could see their legal status begin to expire in March as they become victims of Trump’s immigration enforcement drive.
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KJ