Advocates for amnesty for "Dreamer" illegal immigrants are likely to be disappointed with Democrats who caved on a pledge to force the issue in order to avoid shutting down the government over Christmas.
Advocates want a bill to provide amnesty and some legal status for the hundreds of thousands of "Dreamers," who had received "deferrals" from deportation under an executive memo from former President Barack Obama. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program gave this quasi-legal status to about 800,000 people who had been brought into the country illegally as children.
President Donald Trump announced that he would be ending the DACA program, but he gave Congress a six-month grace period to pass a bill to provide protection for the DACA recipients.
Democrats had pledged to pass a bill before the new year and block the budget bill if Republicans didn't acquiesce to their demands, but some Democrats in Republican districts have pulled their support for the plan that could damage their re-election chances.
“We have to do it before Christmas," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in October. "That’s just the way it is.”
Illegal immigrant advocates organized a last-minute demand for amnesty at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. They set up a tent, calling it "Dream Central" and pushed for lawmakers to pass a bill before the end of the year.
"With Dream Central, we are declaring for all to see that we are here, and we are here to stay!" said Greisa Martinez Rosas, the advocacy director for United We Dream.
At it appears that their demands have been rejected by the Democrats, but they have until March when Trump's order to end DACA will be implemented.
