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Join NowMoveOn: Democrats’ Failure to Secure Dream Act by Holidays Unconscionable; Accountability Pledged
Statement from Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action, in response to Democrats in Congress failing to stand by their promise to pass protections for Dreamers before year’s end:
“This failure to pass a clean Dream Act before heading home for the holidays is unconscionable and Democrats who supported the Republicans’ continuing deportation resolution and failed to stand with Dreamers will be held accountable. Passing a clean Dream Act is a top priority of the progressive movement, and progressive voters will not allow Democrats who side with Republicans over immigrant youth and the majority of Americans to go unchallenged.
“Democratic leadership have failed to keep the promise they made to the American people to use their leverage to pass a clean Dream Act by the end of the year and finally solve the crisis Donald Trump created when he cruelly ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in September.
“The stakes could not be higher. Every single day that Congress fails to act, 122 DACA recipients lose their status, putting them in direct danger of deportation. With more than 12,000 Dreamers currently in legal limbo, there is no time left for Congress to continue to delay on delivering a clean Dream Act that would allow Dreamers to go to school, work, and live without constant fear of being ripped from their homes and families.
“Senate Democrats cannot continue to stall and punt on passing a clean Dream Act; they must be prepared to stand with Dreamers and fight to ensure we do not go one more additional month without protections for Dreamers. That means Democrats—and Democratic leadership—must deliver a clean Dream Act in January. Every day that Democrats fail to deliver a clean Dream Act will further widen the chasm between the party and its base, imperiling the unity that defeated ACA repeal and led to wins in Virginia and Alabama, and increasing activists’ appetite for primary challenges in 2018.”
MoveOn members have stood with Dreamers and immigrant youth leaders at the forefront of this issue by joining rallies, petitioning, visiting, and calling their members of Congress, and more. MoveOn members have made more than 20,000 calls to Congress about the Dream Act, delivered more than a quarter million signatures to Congress, and have shared and viewed powerful videos lifting up the importance of the Dream Act more than 12 million times.
Recent surveys of MoveOn members in key states showed that progressive voters are open to 2018 primary challengers against Democratic Senate candidates if they “vote for a GOP spending bill without Congress fixing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, by passing the Dream Act.” Additionally, a recent poll from Public Policy Polling and MoveOn in 25 Republican-held battleground House districts showed that voters in key Republican districts support a clean Dream Act 3-to-1 and would blame the GOP if there were a government shutdown over the Dream Act.
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