Monday, January 8, 2018

WATCH: "Let's Get Real!" Jeff Flake Goes On Offensive To Secure DACA/Dreamers Resolution; Will Be Meeting At White House Tomorrow

"The President's instincts are better than some of the advice he gets." With those words, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) sprinted from Mesa to the Senate floor today to give a speech about the need to keep focus on a DACA/Dreamer fix without losing it amidst the Trump Administration's demands to tie it to favored changes to the legal immigration system and funding for a border wall for the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Let's get real about the time involved between now and the time we need to fix this...March 5th," Flake pleaded in his 12-minute speech. He set a goal of January 31st to have something on the floor of the Senate.

Flake announced last month that the White House had promised him a seat at the table for discussions on the Trump-revoked DACA program (partly) in return for his vote on the tax bill. In fact, he and several other Senators from both parties met at the White House with Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly in December.

However, on Friday, the White House released documents connecting DACA to the other issues. And today, Republican Senators Grassley, Tillis and Cotton spoke on the Senate floor that indicated the issues had to be put together. Grassley said they were proposing a "five pillar" plan that also includes "sanctuary cities".

Flake asked for "a limited measure" with some related issues, and to table the rest. "I'm all in for comprehensive immigration reform," but this is not the time to try it at the expense of a DACA fix.

Flake is part of a bipartisan group of five Senators (Democrat Durbin and Republicans Bennet, Gardner and Graham) who will be meeting tomorrow.


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