On Thursday, President Trump insulted immigrants and endangered diplomatic relationships by calling African nations “shithole countries,” and demanding that Haitians and others with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) be removed from any bipartisan immigration deal.
The issue isn’t his language. This president has proven time and again to be racist and vulgar.
A racist is not capable of negotiating an immigration deal in good faith.
The issue is the dangerous position that many immigrants find themselves in today, whether they are Dreamers losing their protections on a daily basis, or people with TPS whose lives have been thrown into turmoil.
The issue is the so-called “deal,” and the vision our political leadership has for the future of immigrants who call the US home, and who will have the opportunity to come to the US in the future.
Trump made this statement during bipartisan talks on a possible legislative solution to ensure Dreamers aren’t heartlessly removed from the country they call home. Reports of these talks also indicated that members of Democratic leadership—the party that often claims to be the champion of immigrants—had already made disturbing concessions to the president before his remarks. Those concessions show that Democratic leaders are not seeking a clean DREAM Act, but instead are negotiating the future of Dreamers by blocking family-based visas for their parents, giving the president funding for “the wall,” and ending diversity visas.
The initial deal framework, as originally reported, is unacceptable. We do not ask for ceremonial statements of condemnation of the president’s remarks. We demand those who say they stand with immigrants negotiate protections for those whose status has been compromised by the revocation of DACA and TPS—with no strings attached.
Five Democrats voted against the DREAM Act in 2010 and 17 Democrats broke their promise to protect Dreamers and voted with the GOP before going home for the holidays last month. Trump’s latest racist comments have given these incumbents a third chance to redeem themselves before this year’s primary season.
Austin-area Rep. Lloyd Doggett has long been on the side of Dreamers, and he continues to push Congress to take quick action and pass a clean DREAM Act (which he co-sponsors). More Democrats need to follow his lead.
More than 120,000 Dreamers live in Texas. Approximately 14,500 Dreamers across the country have already lost DACA status, and 122 more lose their status every day that passes without a permanent solution. If a permanent legislative solution is not passed by March, all 700,000 of our most law-abiding immigrants will lose their status. They will lose their work permits and become immediately eligible for deportation.
Dreamers are not a bargaining chip.
Dreamers are our classmates, colleagues, neighbors, and friends. Here in Texas, 2,000 of them are school teachers. We won’t accept a bad deal for those who have built a better life for their families here in America, and those who seek to.
Friday was the eighth anniversary of the earthquake that killed 160,000 Haitians. Do not let cynicism or Trump fatigue overtake you. Honor their memory and call your members of Congress and let them know you’re watching to see if they can be trusted to protect Dreamers and the American Dream itself.