GOP Senator Joins Democrat To Protect Dreamers From Trump’s Un-American DACA Move

Quickly moving to protect Dreamers from potential deportation, Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado joined with fellow Sen. Democrat Michael Bennet of the same state to co-sponsor the DREAM Act.

The legislation would give young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children a path to citizenship and protect them from deportation.

The GOP senator threw his support behind the DREAM Act, saying young people who came to America “through no fault of their own” should not be punished.

The full statement from Gardner:

The GOP senator’s move comes hours after the Trump administration announced it would roll back protections put in place by President Obama for young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

As the Denver Post reported on Tuesday, Gardner previously favored “a failed effort to block the same Obama program that Trump plans to end,” but he changed his mind later on when he was running for U.S. Senate. As the newspaper also noted, 17,000 Dreamers live in Colorado, the state Gardner represents.

The decision by the Republican Senator and frequent Trump critic shows that even the GOP realizes that they cannot continue to denigrate one of the fastest growing voting blocs in the United States.

Still, with Trump in the White House and very little widespread pushback from Republicans over the president’s disastrous policy agenda, it will be hard for GOP members to separate themselves from Trump, no matter how hard they try.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.