Texas Dem: ‘Miracle’ needed to pass DACA fix this year

A Democratic congressman who represents a Texas district bordering Mexico says in a new interview that “a miracle” is needed to pass legislation this year to protect young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally.

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told The Houston Chronicle, however, that he does not see Congress passing new legislation this year to replace the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

“We’re trying to put as much leverage on Republicans as we can, but they are saying early next year. I was hoping we could do it by the end of the year and maybe a miracle will happen, but I don’t see it right now,” Cuellar told the newspaper.

{mosads}”I hate to put it so cold, but do you shut down the government for 800,000 people at the expense of 320 million Americans? That’s really what you’re looking at.” 

President Trump in September said he would rescind the Obama-era DACA program, which protected certain young immigrants from deportation, but provided Congress with six months to pursue a legislative replacement.

Democratic lawmakers have pushed for a fix to DACA to be included in an end-of-the-year spending bill, a prospect that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said last month is not on the table.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, another Texas Democrat, told the Chronicle that an immigration bill has the most viability this year.

“Once the Congress gets beyond that, it will become harder to leverage support for DACA into successful legislation,” Castro said.