A short-term fix for a key Obama-era immigration program was blocked in the Senate on Tuesday for the second time in roughly a week.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) tried to pass legislation that would extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for three years while providing $7.6 billion in border security funding.
Flake said while it was his “strong preference” for Congress to pass a permanent fix, such an agreement has so far eluded lawmakers.
“It’s clear that we cannot achieve this goal right now and no one is more disappointed about that fact than me. I’m the first to admit that this solution I proposed is far from perfect, but it provides a temporary fix,” he said.
{mosads}But GOP Sen. David Perdue (Ga.) blocked Flake’s request, saying a short-term fix would be a “failure.”
“It’s my opinion that we should take that time right now and continue to work on the permanent DACA solution as well as the other legal immigration issues that we know are with reach rather than settling for a temporary solution,” he said.
The back-and-forth on the Senate floor comes as the debate on the DACA program has largely stalled.
Flake made a similar request on the floor last week but GOP Sen. James Lankford (Okla.) objected.
The Trump administration announced last year that it was ending the program, which provides legal protections for certain immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, setting up a March 5 deadline for Congress to pass legislation. While two court decisions threw that timeline into limbo, the initial deadline passed last week with no sign of a deal on Capitol Hill.