Republicans in Congress were trying to avoid the immigration minefield before the midterm election, but one of the major consequences of the government shutdown is that the Senate will now spend precious weeks in session having a public immigration fight.
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MSNBC’s Garrett Haake reported, “There has been no pause, literally no pause, in the effort to shape this immigration debate before the funding was even restored yesterday. You had Republican and Democratic senators in separate groups going to the white house to talk about immigration. So I think it’s important to remember what the actual contours of the deal are with Mitch Mcconnell. He said this will be an open process. Already we are seeing the sides align for what will be a weeks-long battle overshaping what kind of bill, if any, can get out of the Senate.”
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Republicans were trying to avoid the immigration issue in 2018
Republicans control Congress, and if they had had their way, The Dreamers would have been swept under the rug or deported after a last-minute flurry of chaos failed to produce a deal that would have kept them in the country. The Republican Party has been fighting with itself over immigration issues for the decades. The very last thing that Mitch McConnell wanted to do was spend weeks of Senate time dividing the GOP on immigration.
Many Republicans in Congress would have turned a blind eye while Trump carried out his plan to deport the Dreamers.
The Republicans wanted to be talking about their tax cuts. Instead, they are fighting over the one issue that rips their party apart.
The government shut down for a couple of days, and the result is that an issue championed by Democrats will dominate the agenda for weeks. Republicans are already stumbling into the midterm election, and it only gets worse for them from this point forward.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
