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Immigration takes center stage

Sen. Bennet frustrated with ‘political games’
Bennet

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate on Monday voted for a fourth time to block the House’s proposed appropriations bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Needing 60 yeas to pass a cloture vote – meaning a vote on limiting debate to proceed with to a vote on the bill – the measure failed in a 47-46 margin.

Only four days remain for Congress to reach an agreement before the Feb. 27 deadline to continue funding the DHS arrives.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who joined most other Democrats in voting against cloture, slammed Congress for “playing political games.”

“Once again, Congress has allowed a self-manufactured crisis to languish until the eleventh hour,” Bennet said in a statement on Monday. “This is no way to govern. Allowing homeland security funding to lapse would put a strain on the agencies responsible for our national security. We need to pass a clean bill that keeps DHS at full strength.

“The Senate proved in the last Congress that there is bipartisan agreement about how we can do that. Unfortunately, the House of Representatives chose to do nothing.”

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson has warned that an agency shutdown would result in 75-80 percent of staff members being forced to work without pay, as their jobs are deemed vital to national security. An additional 30,000 would be furloughed.

The Obama administration also continued its battle with the judiciary. The Department of Justice filed an emergency stay on Monday with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas to undo Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction, which blocked the president’s executive action on immigration.

“A stay pending appeal is necessary to ensure that the Department of Homeland Security is able to most effectively protect national security, public safety and the integrity of the border,” the stay reads.

If the district court does not rule or denies the stay by Wednesday at 5 p.m., the Obama administration will move on to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Colorado will no doubt be paying close attention.

The Migration Policy Institute found that of the estimated 5.2 million immigrants in the country illegally are eligible for deferred deportation under the president’s actions; 90,000 live in the Centennial State. Colorado ranked No. 12 of the 50 states for those eligible for deferred action.

The MPI found that 67,000 immigrants in the country illegally within Colorado would be shielded from deportation under Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. DAPA would allow parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to request deferred action and employment authorization for three years.

An additional 23,000 of those residing in Colorado would be protected under the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The new program would grant deferred action to people of any current age who entered the United States before the age of 16 and lived in the United States continuously since Jan. 1, 2010.

The expanded DACA program would also extend the period of work authorization from two years to three years.

The Obama Administration initially implemented DACA in 2012, which granted deferred action to certain people who entered the United States before their 16th birthday and before June 2007.

Those who were eligible, however, were not able to apply for the expanded DACA program after the court ruling. Just as DHS was ready to start accepting requests, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted that the agency will be unable to do so because of the federal court order.

Michael Cipriano is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.



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