DREAMERS/IMMIGRATION/POLITICS: “Senate Democrats are weighing whether to use their ultimate leverage — the threat of a government shutdown in December — in their bid to protect hundreds of thousands of so-called Dreamers from possible deportation.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a prospective 2020 presidential hopeful, raised the specter of a year-end showdown last week when she declared she wouldn’t vote for a spending bill that doesn’t help children of undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors. Republicans will need Democratic votes — definitely in the Senate and almost certainly in the House, too — to pass legislation to keep the government funded.
Other Democrats told Politico they agreed with Harris…
But a number of other Democratic senators said they aren’t willing to go there — at least not yet…
For now, most Senate Democrats are signaling caution, concerned that an uncompromising public stance could upend prospects of a bipartisan deal and reluctant to be seen as using Dreamers as bargaining chips.”
-Seung Min Kim, “Dems weigh government shutdown over Dreamers fight,” Politico, Nov. 1, 2017 05:33am