WASHINGTON — With pressure ratcheting up in both parties, Congress is heading into a political thicket that President Trump initiated four months ago when he chose to gradually rescind an immigration program that allows some undocumented minors to stay in America.
Congressional leaders from both parties met with top White House advisers Wednesday in hopes of making headway on a permanent solution for the program, but each side left the meeting acknowledging significant disagreements must still be resolved.
With Democrats hoping to use the leverage provided by a mid-January spending deadline, the next few weeks are a critical time for immigration activists to push lawmakers — and the president — on key concessions.
Fissures within both parties on this issue are so cross-cutting that Congress is experiencing a rare moment in which coalitions from both parties feel emboldened to make demands. Pushing them are activists on each side of the immigration debate, who have held several recent Capitol Hill protests regarding the residency program, which is called Deferred Action for Children Arrivals or DACA. The program, instituted under President Obama, provides legal status to children who were brought to the United States by their parents illegally, as long as they meet certain requirements.
“It is our considered view that the only way this will get passed is if it’s included in the must-pass spending bill in January,’’ said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, a national pro-immigration reform group that is active in the lobbying efforts.
“They key elements to the strategy is that Democrats use their leverage and make [it] a top priority, pressure Republicans to make sure they come and negotiate a reasonable deal, and then hope like hell that this crazy president signs it,’’ Sharry said.
His opponents, however, are equally resolved in stopping any DACA fix from passing.
“One never uses the word trust in politics without also using the word verify,’’ said Roy Beck, the founder of Numbers USA, an anti-immigration advocacy firm. “But I believe President Trump, he has gone out on a limb on immigration, but that limb can break if he goes against what he’s promised.’’
The fight is sure to test Trump’s political acumen and anti-immigrant resolve and will force lawmakers into a quagmire of moral and political calculations at the beginning of a mid-term election year.
The president has, at times, expressed sympathy for the thousands of children who are in America through little choice of their own. At other times, he has accused Democrats of using the issue for political leverage, leaving observers to doubt he would risk his anti-immigrant, nativist credentials with his voter base and sign a bill that protects undocumented citizens of any kind.
Beck’s Numbers USA group has launch a media campaign pressuring Republicans to not only keep DACA out of the government spending bill but to instead include a decrease in legal immigration or increased money to build Trump’s controversial border wall between the United States and Mexico.
With such uncertainty, political predictors — and American residents who rely on DACA — have been left in limbo.
“There are real human consequences to this self-made moment that Trump has created,’’ said Lorella Praeli, an ACLU policy director and former undocumented immigrant. Praeli said her sister is currently in the country as a DACA recipient and the uncertainty over her legal status has caused personal anguish.
“This is emotionally taxing and highly disruptive to people’s lives,’’ Praeli said. The uncertainty over DACA has “disrupted her [sister’s] social life, her mental health, and her own sense of self.’’
To fix the program, progressive activists want Senate Democrats to play hardball with the upcoming government spending bill — and risk shutting down the government on Jan. 19 if Republicans refuse to attach a DACA fix. Democratic leaders last month agreed to a short-term funding bill without addressing DACA, triggering an outcry from immigration advocates.
After the meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon, Republicans — who control the White House and both congressional chambers — released a statement warning Democrats against any plans to defund the government.
“It is important that we achieve a two-year agreement that funds our troops and provides for our national security and other critical functions of the federal government,’’ the statement read. “It also remains important that members of Congress do not hold funding for our troops hostage for immigration policy.’’
But Republicans face risks, too. Recent polls say an overwhelming majority of Americans — almost 80 percent — support allowing DACA recipients to remain in the country.
Late last year, dozens of centrist Republicans expressed a willingness to see DACA continue and signed a letter committing to permanently fixing the program before it is set to expire in March. This more moderate group, who are also more likely to have immigrant voters in their districts, have special leverage in 2018, because they will also be facing more difficult reelection campaigns and are key figures for the GOP’s hopes of retaining a majority in the House.
On Wednesday, three former heads of the Department of Homeland Security wrote a joint letter asking Congress to create a permanent solution as soon as possible.
“We write not only in strong support of [DACA], but to stress that it should be enacted speedily, in order to meet the significant administrative requirements of implementation, as well as the need to provide certainty for employers of these young people,’’ said the letter. It was signed by Jeh Johnson and Janet Napolitano, homeland security secretaries under President Obama, and Michael Chertoff, secretary under President George W. Bush.
“Our country is better if these individuals do not have to spend the next few months planning for a future where they cannot work legally and could be deported at any time, many to countries they do not remember,’’ the letter said.
Progressive activists are quick to point out that nearly 15,000 DACA recipients have already lost their legal status because they did not meet the renewal deadlines created by the Trump administration’s decision to modify the program. They also say, according to their estimates, 122 DACA recipients lose protected status every day.
Among the all-Democratic Massachusetts delegation, nearly all are ardent supporters of the DACA program and support the idea of attaching it to the January funding bill.
In downtown Boston Wednesday, Senator Edward Markey held a rally to affirm his support for DACA recipients and broader immigration reform. He reiterated to constituents that he supported attaching the DACA fix to the must-pass government resolution but also acknowledged that pressure from Democrats alone won’t be enough without some Republican support.
“Our goal is just turn up the heat, make it very clear they’re holding hostage 800,000 young people all across our country and they have no moral right to do that,’’ Markey said. “The more that we can raise the pressure on them . . . the more likely that those Republicans are going to force their leadership to bring this out as a vote on the Senate and House floor and to do so in the month of January.’’
Laura Crimaldi of Globe staff contributed to this report. Herndon can be reached at astead.herndon@globe.com.
