With a government shutdown looming, Rep. Jim McGovern urged his colleagues in the Senate to stick to their guns on protecting DACA, an Obama-era program that protects nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation.
"These are valued members of our community, and to treat them like this is a rotten thing to do," McGovern told Boston Public Radio Friday. "We have to do the right thing. This is, morally, the right thing to do."
Congress must pass a spending bill before midnight tonight or face a government shutdown. A stopgap measure passed in the House Thursday evening, but Senate Democrats insist they will not vote for a bill without negotiating long-term increases in domestic spending and protections for the DACA program. A recent pollsuggests 87 percent of Americans believe DACA participants should be able to stay in the United States.
McGovern expressed frustration at shifting demands from President Trump. Trump suggested earlier this monthhe would sign DACA legislation he "wasn't in love with" if it had bipartisan support. But when Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin presented him with a bipartisan bill yesterday, he rejected it.
"Look, I don't want to shut the government down. None of us do," McGovern said. "There's no need to shut the government down over this. What we need is for the president to keep his word."
McGovern also criticized Republican leadership in the Senate for rejecting Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's request for a vote.
"We need a vote. If we had a vote in the House and the Senate, we would have a bipartisan majority to protect the Dreamers," McGovern said. "But the Republican leadership won't even allow us to have a vote."
Click the audio player above to hear more from Rep. Jim McGovern.
