Open border groups are making a final push to get Congress to grant amnesty to beneficiaries of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Hundreds of DACA recipients are being bussed from across the country into Washington, D.C. with plans to confront Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and many are steeling themselves for arrest, after planned displays of civil disobedience.
On Wednesday night, nearly 200 illegal alien activists, including two lawmakers, were arrested at the U.S. Capitol Building on a variety of charges. In addition to protests in Washington, illegal alien activists are targeting members of Congress in their home states and districts. On Monday, seven protesters (six men and one woman) were arrested at the Phoenix office of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after staging a “sit-in,” demanding amnesty for illegal aliens. The protesters were all charged with criminal trespassing.
McCain, along with fellow Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona have stated they would support a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. McCain and Flake were part of the original “Gang of 8” Senators who tried to pass an amnesty deal for illegal aliens and now it sounds like Flake is trying to start the gang back up again. According to reports Flake is “quietly” working with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) to craft “Dreamer legislation” that could pick up 60 votes.
DACA recipients and open borders advocates see December as their best opportunity to get Congress to pass a “DACA fix” because Republicans, who control Congress, need votes from some Democrats to pass a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
In December of 2010 open borders advocates and illegal aliens made a similar push to get Congress to pass the DREAM Act. During that attempt, hundreds of protesters were jailed across the country after acts of civil disobedience. The bill was ultimately defeated leading President Obama to invoke executive authority to create DACA in 2012, he claimed on 22 occasions not to have. President Trump has stated that he intends to end DACA by March 5th.