2020 politics make an immigration deal unlikely in lame-duck
Immigration was a good issue for Senate Republicans in the midterm elections, but Democrats see it as a winner for them in 2020 and have little desire to negotiate on the issue in the lame-duck session or next year.
The offer that Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) proffered at the start of this year — full funding for the border wall in exchange for reauthorization of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects immigrants who came to the country illegally as children — is no longer on the table.
Democrats say they are content to take the issue into 2020, when Democratic voters are projected to turn out in larger numbers and two pivotal Senate races will be fought in states with large Hispanic populations: Arizona and Colorado.
“One, it will continue to help with suburban women. Number two, it will mobilize Latino voters,” said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster. “The third thing [is], particularly if Democrats lean into it, immigration can be a huge liability [for Republicans].
“There gets to be a point where voters are really frustrated that all you do is divide people without proposing any workable solutions,” she added. “The presidential election allows for a real debate on this and in that debate [Democrats] will have the popular side of the issues.”
Meanwhile, Republicans are hoping to negotiate an agreement on border security that President Trump could accept, even if it falls short of his ambition to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/416559-2020-politics-make-an-immigration-deal-unlikely-in-lame-duck?userid=229233
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