[W]ASHINGTON — With less than six weeks to go until a high-profile immigration program is set to expire, recipients of the program in Vermont are hoping Congress will take action soon.
The Trump administration announced plans in September to “wind down” Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that allows some undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children to avoid deportation and get a temporary work permit. The program is set to end March 5.
Democrats and Republicans have been unable to reach an agreement that would extend the program, and the stalemate was a key factor in the three-day federal government shutdown that ended Monday.
Juan Conde, a first-year medical student at the University of Vermont who has DACA status, said in a phone interview he is a “little bit” surprised that Congress has not moved forward with any bills that would reinstate the program.
“It’s surprising that even though most Americans support the program, that is not translating into any legislative action,” he said.
Shortly after President Donald Trump announced the program would “wind down,” Conde joined Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., at a September press conference calling on Congress to act.
However, the recent focus in Congress has been on topics like the tax overhaul package, which passed late last year, Conde said.
“There hasn’t been any oxygen to debate anything else,” he said.
Conde still has a valid work permit now and is continuing his studies. But he is thinking about how his future could change if the program is not extended.
“I don’t know how this exactly plays out, but I’ll still be trying to do what I’m doing,” Conde said.
Conde arrived in the United States from Mexico with his mother and brother when he was 9 years old.
“DACA gave us some certainty,” he said. “But for most of our lives we never had that certainty.”
Conde said he fears the perception that there is time before the program fully expires is misplaced. Implementing the program will take time. Then many DACA recipients could be left waiting for months while applying for new paperwork. The application for a DACA permit can take half a year, he said.
“Truly I think the deadline, I mean, has passed,” he said.
The deal Democrats and Republicans reached Monday to reopen the government with a three-week spending resolution gives more time for negotiations, he said.
“Even if the government is reopened,” he said, “they will at least have a firm commitment that DACA is the next issue to be discussed,” he said.
Conde is optimistic.
“I would think that Congress will choose to listen to the American people,” he said.
Martha Herrera Coria, a member of the advocacy group Migrant Justice in Burlington, said in an interview she is fearful about the prospect of losing DACA protection. Herrera Coria spoke in Spanish and Will Lambek, also of Migrant Justice, translated.
“For me having DACA is having freedom because I know I can be out in public,” she said. “I can travel, I can see friends and I don’t have to be afraid that Immigration is going to arrest me and deport me.”
If the program expires, she said, she and others protected under the program would go back to living “in the shadows.”
“It would change our lives completely, and that’s why we want to fight to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she said.
Herrera Coria was skeptical of the deal Democrats and Republicans struck.
“We don’t believe the promises that are coming out of Congress because if the Republican Party were serious about creating a solution for Dreamers, they would have done so already,” she said.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., raised questions about whether legislation will have better prospects in three weeks.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that if the government is open on Feb. 8, when the current spending resolution runs out, the Senate will have a “fair and open process” on legislation on the issue of DACA.
“Whoever gets 60 votes wins,” he said.
McConnell responded to concerns among some that he will change his mind and not allow legislation to come up on the Senate floor.
“I intend to keep my word,” he said.
