While President Donald Trump mocked Democrats for “caving” on last weekend’s brief federal government shutdown, Colorado Democrats are still holding out hope for a deal to protect Dreamers by the new Feb. 8 deadline.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper also praised lawmakers for finally getting a deal done to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) relied on by more than 9 million low-income kids and allowed by Republicans to expire last fall.
“It is good news that CHIP is now fully funded,” Hickenlooper said. “We hope and expect that DACA families will, at the least, be granted deferred action in the coming weeks, and be able to achieve some piece of mind. And a longer-term budget solution wouldn’t hurt either.”
Also last fall, Trump opted not to continue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects the children of immigrants from deportation and allows them to work and study here legally if they registered with the federal government and stayed out of trouble with the law.
That popular Obama administration program expires March 5, and Republicans are holding out on codifying it into law in exchange for tougher immigration enforcement and border security, including a wall along the Mexico border Trump promised that country would pay for.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has now pulled any Democratic agreement to fund a border wall in exchange for DACA off the table.
It would appear the same showdown over the same issues has now simply been pushed off until Feb. 8. Trump again mocked Schumer on Twitter on Tuesday:
Cryin’ Chuck Schumer fully understands, especially after his humiliating defeat, that if there is no Wall, there is no DACA. We must have safety and security, together with a strong Military, for our great people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2018
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