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DACA Deadline Passes, Dreamers Blame Democrats

<p>Last September&comma; President Trump marked March 5th as the deadline for Congress to come up with a solution to protect &&num;8220&semi;Dreamers&&num;8221&semi; after the DACA phaseout&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite months of heated debate&comma; Congress failed to agree on a solution&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Immigrants&&num;8217&semi; rights activists and Dreamers gathered around the DNC headquarters in Washington on Monday to show Democrats who they blame for failing to meet the deadline&period; Protestors carried signs and bullhorns and blocked DNC members from entering the building&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;If you won&rsquo&semi;t let us dream&comma; we won&rsquo&semi;t let you sleep&comma;&rdquo&semi; they chanted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Earlier that day&comma; hundreds of protestors marched from the American History Museum to the Capitol to demand that Congress pass legislation granting them citizenship&period; At least 80 people were arrested&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;I am here today to tell Democrats that they are not my allies and I will continue to fight and show that I will not collaborate with them until they do something for my community&comma;&rdquo&semi; said one protestor&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Several US citizens who participated in the protests said they would cancel their membership in the Democratic Party over the issue&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>President Trump repeatedly pushed for legislation that would have legalized millions of Dreamers in exchange for border wall funding and&nbsp&semi;changes to immigration policy&comma; but his demands were rejected by both parties for different reasons&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Democrats have largely blamed President Trump and the GOP for missing the deadline&comma; with DNC Chairman Tom Perez calling Trump&rsquo&semi;s phaseout &ldquo&semi;cruel and reckless&period;&rdquo&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dreamers rightly blame both parties for the legislative impasse that could change their lives&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;The Democrats made the calculation to kick the can down the road and allow hundreds of thousands of us undocumented youth to live in uncertainty&comma;&rdquo&semi; said former DACA recipient Maria Duarte&period; &ldquo&semi;We are anxious and we are scared of being torn away from their homes and our community&period;&rdquo&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Demonstrators said they hoped Congress would pass a &ldquo&semi;clean&rdquo&semi; bill granting at least a portion of the Dreamers citizenship &&num;8211&semi; without agreeing to Trump&rsquo&semi;s demands for increased border security&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8212&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Thanks to two federal judges who ruled against Trump&&num;8217&semi;s effort to cancel DACA&comma; Congress has a little more time to come up with a solution&period; This means DACA will be a HUGE issue in the upcoming midterm elections&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With former Democrats pledging to leave the party over the DACA issue&comma; Republican candidates&rsquo&semi; stance on immigration could earn them unexpected support&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Lorella Praeli&comma; who oversees immigration policy for the ACLU&comma; is running a massive ad campaign aimed to reach RNC staff&comma; administration officials&comma; and other influential Republicans&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In the meantime&comma; information from Citizenship and Immigration Services suggests Dreamers could start losing their protected status as early as this week as a result of backlogs in processing applications and renewals&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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