Thread by @AngelRafPadilla

This afternoon the Senate is turning to DACA and immigration, beginning with a “motion to proceed” vote. The burden is on Republicans to fix the mess that Donald Trump made on #DACA, as a majority of Americans want them to. [Thread]

Remember, we got here because Donald Trump ended the DACA program back in Sept. And 20,000 DACA recipients have already lost their protections as a result. He then rejected a bipartisan agreement reached by @SenatorDurbin and @LindseyGrahamSC, because it wasn’t racist enough.

So here we are — in an open debate on immigration with a Republican-controlled Congress. If you care about immigrants and #Dreamers, you should be worried. And while we all want relief for Dreamers, we can’t and won’t take just any deal.

Process: Democrats and Republicans plan to offer a series of amendments to a “shell bill,” each encapsulating some version of a #DACA fix or possibly a way for Rs to further attack immigrants. They will vote on each of these to see whether any can get 60 votes.

Immigration advocates and progressives are demanding a vote on a #CleanDreamAct. Some Democrats are reluctant because if it fails, they think it might harm its chances long term...except…

THE DREAM ACT WAS INTRODUCED 17 YEARS AGO! So this argument makes little sense to me...

A #cleanDreamAct is what we want, so we should vote on it — instead of negotiating with ourselves before we even start the debate. Plus, we want to make clear where Dems stand on this issue, not help Rs by moderating the bill for them.

But there ARE red lines. Immigration advocates and progressives have made it clear what those are and are asking @SenSchumer and Democrats to respect them.

Immigration groups have made it clear to @SenSchumer and @dickdurbin that changes to legal/family migration and to the diversity visa program SHOULD NOT be on the table. Additional enforcement is also a nonstarter.

There are only “two pillars” that we can accept in this debate: immediate relief for Dreamers and reasonable border security. (And a border wall ain’t reasonable.)

Democrats should NOT offer an amendment that goes beyond Dream and border. That would be a violation of the red lines clearly laid out by immigration advocates. I also don’t see the logic — why make it easier for Republicans to pass a bill we don’t want?

And every Democrat should also oppose the extreme, nativist proposals on the Republican side. They should vote against Grassley’s Secure and Succeed Act — which goes beyond even the extreme WH plan.

Every Democrat should also vote against the Flake bill, which violates the red lines laid out by advocates, and also vote against attacks against sanctuary cities. They shouldn't negotiate on any of this. Period.

We all want relief for #Dreamers, as do a majority of Americans. Republicans have the power to do the right thing, and without holding Dreamers hostage. If they refuse to fix the issue, we expect Democrats to hold the line by not agreeing to bad deals. End/