Dem whip pushes back on ‘four pillars’ approach to Dreamers

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday rejected the notion that a deal to protect the so-called Dreamers must include other provisions reducing legal immigration.  

“There was no agreement that that was the agenda,” Hoyer told reporters in the Capitol. 

As part of the ongoing talks to salvage the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Republican leaders are pushing a package that combines the DACA protections with three other provisions: enhanced border security, new limits on family migration and the elimination of the diversity visa lottery. That approach was trumpeted by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) during a televised immigration meeting with President Trump at the White House on Jan. 9.  

But Hoyer — who has huddled with McCarthy and Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in recent weeks in search of a DACA deal — said House Democrats were never on board with all four provisions. The latter two, he argued, should be part of a comprehensive immigration reform package, not the more narrow DACA legislation. 

“We didn’t agree with some of the things, and I made that clear, that there was no agreement on that,” Hoyer said. 

“The first two we’re discussing; the third and fourth … we’re not in agreement with their position, and more importantly … we think that belongs in the comprehensive immigration basket.”

That position puts House Democratic leaders at odds with those in the Senate, where Durbin, joined by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), has introduced a DACA bill adopting the four-tiered approach Hoyer rebuffed.

“I’m not sure that Sen. Durbin doesn’t agree with us,” Hoyer explained. “He obviously made a deal. Most times when you make a deal you’re not happy with everything that’s in it.”

Trump announced the end of the five-year-old DACA program in September, arguing the Obama administration lacked the authority to create the program unilaterally. But Trump said he supports the concept, and gave Congress until March 5 to codify the protections with legislation.

The fast-approaching deadline has led to the recent introduction of a number of competing proposals to do just that.

Aside from the Durbin-Graham proposal, which Trump has rejected, Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas) have introduced an enforcement-heavy DACA bill popular with conservatives. The White House issued an outline last week that would provide eventual citizenship rights to roughly 1.8 million Dreamers, combined with a slew of tough enforcement measures and a sharp reduction in legal immigration. And Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) are pushing legislation coupling the DACA protections with enhanced border security, without the additional provisions.  

Hoyer on Tuesday predicted only the Hurd-Aguilar bill could muster the majority needed to pass the House.  

“Maybe not a majority of the Republicans,” he said, “but certainly a majority of the House.”