Chanting “undocumented and unafraid,” illegal aliens continued more than a month of protests at the Capitol on Wednesday as the House of Representatives cast the final vote in favor of President Trump’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act.
“Hundreds of illegal immigrant ‘Dreamers’ were taking to the halls of the U.S. Capitol complex Wednesday to complain they were being left behind by congressional leaders working on a year-end deal that does not grant them full citizenship rights,” The Washington Times reported on Wednesday:
The Dreamers were particularly angered that Democrats, who they were counting on to engage in a shutdown showdown over their fate, appear to have backed off and are willing to grant another month-long funding bill without a an solution in hand.
The activists, wearing red stocking hats and T-shirts, marched and lay down in hallways to try to slow business in the office buildings that ring the Capitol. They broadcast the actions live on Facebook.
“We want Dream Act,” protesters chanted, referring to a bill that would grant tentative legal status to more than 2 million illegal immigrants, and would see 1.7 million of them earn a green card signifying permanent legal presence, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Illegal aliens staged a “DREAM Act sit-in” last month in the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The protesters refused to leave McConnell’s office, and conducted similar sit-ins in several other Congressional offices.
Supported by the Soros-funded organization United We Dream, the self-proclaimed “sin papeles” (no papers) protestors are demanding no votes on a spending bill absent a “clean DREAM Act” which must be now, because as they say in the live sit-in videos, “we deserve it” and “we cannot wait any longer.” They also claim that enforcing current U.S. immigration law is a “white supremacist agenda.”
In early December, Stephanie Teatro, co-director of the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) was arrested with a group that had “taken over” the Capitol Building’s steps rallying for the DREAM Act.
According to the National Immigration Law Center, another Soros-funded organization, a “clean DREAM Act” means:
- NO funding for a border wall and increased border security.
- NO funding for interior enforcement.
- NO funding for more detention centers.
- NO mandatory E-Verify.
A cornerstone of the groups’ demands includes amnesty and a pathway to citizenship for over 2.1 million illegal aliens including the 800,000 former DACA grantees.
In September, President Trump ended the Obama DACA policy that worked an unconstitutional end-run around Congress but provided a 6-month delay for enforcement, giving Congress until early March to act on the issue if it so chooses. According to an immigrant led group called “We Are Here to Stay,” over 11,000 of the 800,000 illegal aliens granted temporary deferred deportation status under DACA recipients are no longer protected since their DACA status has expired.
Flush with money to lobby Congress and to support their commitment to stay in Washington until the December recess, the “We Are Here to Stay” demanders have also installed a giant projection screen on Capitol Hill which they call “The DreamActTron” so that:
Every time Ryan and Members of Congress look out their window, they will see the faces of immigrant youth who would be deported unless they pass a clean Dream Act this year. This is your chance to send your message to Congress! Here’s how to do it:
- Record a video of yourself, or take a selfie, and tell Congress why you support a clean Dream Act.
- Post it on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #DreamActNow.
- Then we will make sure your message gets shared in our giant screen in front of members of Congress!
The sit-in demanders say that members of Congress have a legal responsibility to represent them and their interests. But a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision dealing with campaign contributions casts doubt on whether foreign nationals who entered the country illegally and have no protected status are even eligible to be lobbying Congress to pass legislation.
The court’s decision acknowledged the difference between “citizens and aliens” with regard to participation in the political process because aliens, as opposed to citizens, have no “lasting tie” to the U.S.:
With respect to participation in the political process, the distinction between citizens and aliens is grounded in [the Supreme] Court’s decisions, in centuries of history, and in the fundamental significance of American citizenship. Congress has a compelling interest in preserving that distinction.
Groups opposed to illegal immigration, amnesty and chain migration have issued action urging callers to tell Congress no to any amnesty. These pro-American immigration groups have alerted the public that open borders illegal immigration advocates which includes some GOP members, are likely to try attaching an amnesty provision to a year end spending bill.
The tactic of sneaking amnesty provisions into spending bills has been around for years and has been attempted in the past. For example, in 2008, Democrat Sen. Diane Feinstein attached a GOP-co-sponsored amnesty amendment to an Iraq war spending bill which was passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee but ultimately defeated.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell now says that Congress will wait until 2018 to address the DACA program in addition to other issues that are part of the President’s immigration agenda.
