Following news reports last week that at least 24 House Democrats would bring so-called Dreamers to watch President Trump’s January 30 State of the Union address from the House gallery, conservative Representative Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) said he had asked the United States Capitol Police and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to arrest “any illegal aliens” who arrive at the Capitol. New York Times best-selling author Ann Coulter, another outspoken conservative, echoed Gosar’s sentiments.
Though no Dreamers were arrested, the SOTU speech was generally a success for the president, though some Democrats in the chamber voiced their discontent loudly.
“A country with no borders, and no enforcement of its laws, is not a country,” Gosar said in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News. “It is anarchy. It is chaos. Trump was elected to restore order and enforce the law. Obama, by contrast, enjoyed flouting our laws and our constitution.”
Gosar also asked Capitol Police to arrest those using fraudulent social security numbers and identification to pass through security.
“Of all the places where the Rule of Law needs to be enforced, it should be in the hallowed halls of Congress. Any illegal aliens attempting to go through security, under any pretext of invitation or otherwise, should be arrested and deported,” said the congressman.
Dreamers is the name given to an estimated 700,000 young aliens who entered the United States as children with their parents and came here illegally. They have been shielded from deportation since 2012, when former President Obama initiated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program with an executive action after Congress failed to pass the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) in multiple congresses.
On June 15, 2012, Obama announced that his administration would stop deporting young illegal immigrants who met certain criteria previously proposed under the DREAM Act.
Gosar’s statements prompted statements of disagreement from some other House members, including Republicans. AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), said “the Speaker clearly does not agree” with Gosar’s suggestion.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who brought a Chicago-area “Dreamer” as a guest to the SOTU address, posted an online statement wondering “how many Republican members of the House and Senate will condemn this attempt to punish Dreamers who were brought to this country as kids?”
Perhaps the most strongly worded statement against Gosar came from Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), who said in an interview quoted by Politico that the Dreamers remain protected by the DACA program, which Trump ended last year with a sixth-month delay so that Congress could work on writing protections for them into law. She recommended that Gosar “read the law” and said Democrats have been insistent on tying the Dreamers’ fate to the appropriations process “because we have questions about people like Gosar understanding the law.”
“I’m outraged by the comments from Congressman Gosar. Perhaps he should resign from the Congress and go work for ICE. He may be better suited to that position,” she said in her rant. “His view certainly expresses the most right-wing view that I can imagine.”
Speaking on the Howie Carr radio program on January 29, Ann Coulter made the same point Gosar would make the next day regarding Democratic members of Congress who would bring Dreamers to the SOTU address:
I’ve also heard they’re planning on inviting illegal aliens. So [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions better be ready to arrest all of them for conspiring to commit a crime, which I believe is a felony under federal law in all 50 states, even if the crime itself is not a felony. I mean, they had to have meetings, they had to make a phone call.
These are people who are in the country illegally and anyone conspiring with them to keep them here illegally, to invite them to a State of the Union address, Jeff Sessions should have them all arrested and I mean the congressmen.
The Democrats were undoubtedly motivated by their decision to invite the Dreamers to the SOTU address because they have made protecting the DACA program enrollees from deportation a major part of their legislative agenda. They are determined to maintain the protection from deportation provided by DACA permanently. While campaigning for the presidency, candidate Trump promised that he would “immediately terminate” DACA after being elected. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced last September 5 that the DACA program will end in six months, giving Congress time to find a legislative solution for people enrolled in the program. However, in recent months, the president has increasingly demonstrated a willingness to compromise with Democrats by supporting legislation that would offer the same protection from deportation and extended work authorization that the Obama administration.
One would think that with Trump having backpedaled on this issue, Democrats would be glad to meet him halfway, but it seem the more he compromises on the issue the more insistent have been their demands. When Trump offered to extend DACA in exchange for their support for funding to build a wall along the Mexican border to keep out illegal aliens, they refused to go along.
During his SOTU speech, Trump said that over the next few weeks, the House and Senate will be voting on an immigration reform package and that his Administration has met extensively with both Democrats and Republicans to craft a bipartisan approach to immigration reform. He then outlined the four pillars of the immigration plan he would offer to Congress”
The first pillar of our framework generously offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age — that covers almost three times more people than the previous administration. Under our plan, those who meet education and work requirements, and show good moral character, will be able to become full citizens of the United States.
That pillar represents nothing less than a complete compromise with Democrats and an abandonment of candidate trump’s pledge to “immediately terminate” DACA. Democrats should be thrilled with that proposal.
The second pillar fully secures the border. That means building a wall on the Southern border, and it means hiring more heroes like CJ [Martinez — an ICE officer who commanded an operation that arrested nearly 400 gang members, including more than 220 from the notorious MS-13 gang] to keep our communities safe. Crucially, our plan closes the terrible loopholes exploited by criminals and terrorists to enter our country — and it finally ends the dangerous practice of “catch and release.”
While those two pillars did not generate much negative reaction from Democrats, the Democrats’ distaste for the next two was apparent:
The third pillar ends the visa lottery — a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of our people. It is time to begin moving towards a merit-based immigration system — one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society, and who will love and respect our country.
The fourth and final pillar protects the nuclear family by ending chain migration. Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives. Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children. This vital reform is necessary, not just for our economy, but for our security, and our future.
In recent weeks, two terrorist attacks in New York were made possible by the visa lottery and chain migration. In the age of terrorism, these programs present risks we can no longer afford.
A January 30 report in the Washington Examiner noted: “Democratic lawmakers gathered for Tuesday’s State of the Union address twice booed President Trump as he spoke about restricting family-based chain migration to the U.S.”
The Examiner reported:
The president also criticized chain migration patterns while offering his condolences to the parents of two 16-year-old girls who were murdered by MS-13, a predominantly Latino transnational criminal organization. Many members of the criminal gang have been permitted entry into the U.S. through “deadly loopholes” like the visa lottery system, Trump said.
Democrats loudly booed the president at both mentions, though they stopped when the president turned his attention to the parents of the slain teenage girls.
Faced with opposition in Congress that so blatantly disregards the standards of decorum one might expect from what should be an “august” body on a solemn state occasion, why would Trump continue his attempt to “craft a bipartisan approach to immigration reform”?
He might as well convince the Republican leadership in the Senate to exercise the “nuclear option” to eliminate the filibuster that allows Democrats to obstruct his immigration plan and be done with compromise and abandoning the constituency that elected him.
If Democrats in Congress are not satisfied with half a loaf, then it is time for them to settle for breadcrumbs.
Related articles:
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“Bill of Love”: Trump’s Ongoing Effort to Strike Deal With Democrats for DACA Recipients
Trump and Democrats Working on Deal Over Future of DACA Recipients Before Program Expires
