Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and other Democrats are concerned their party will allow a spending bill to go through without including protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, according to The Hill.
"Not optimistic. I think Democrats have really not stood up for the Dreamers as they can," Gutierrez said, referring to the people in the DACA program, who were brought to the country illegally as children and are allowed to work and attend school under the program.
Dozens of Democrats in the House of Representatives and a group of progressive senators have said they would oppose an end-of-year spending bill that did not include DACA protection, but the House appears set to push DACA issues into the new year, The Hill reported.
"The House is solid. We're not voting on any spending bill that doesn't address a DACA fix. That's the Democratic stronghold, that's the leverage for Republicans. We believe that they're going to need us, we're hoping sooner than later," said Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., in The Hill.
Some Democrats have appeared hesitant to fight over DACA in the stopgap bill. Many are up for reelection in states that President Donald Trump won, The Hill reported.
Gutierrez took aim at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., over the issue, saying he's "backsliding. He's not ready to stand up for the Dreamers as he should. And I hope they hold him accountable."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., publicly said he would bring a DACA deal to a vote if negotiators can come up with a bipartisan deal by the end of January.
A bipartisan group of senators met with White House chief of staff John Kelly about a deal and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Republicans are "very demanding at the moment," and are asking for too much in the deal, The Hill reported.
"We couldn't finish this product, this bill, until we knew where the administration was. And that's why this meeting was so important," said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., in Politico.
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