Geraldo Rivera: I Resent Democrats for Using DACA as Bargaining Chip in Budget Deal
Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera said that the Democrats should not have tied a solution to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals with budget negotiations this week.
“DACA has nothing to do with the budget. And when you take DACA, these ‘dreamers,’ and you say their fate must be determined before or as part of the budget negotiations, Why?” Rivera said. “It’s not a budgetary item. It’s totally different. You know how I feel about the dreamers. I really resent (Democrats) using them.”
Congress voted on a bipartisan spending bill early Friday morning after a brief government shutdown overnight.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urged Democrats to oppose the new spending bill because it didn’t provide a resolution for thousands of “dreamers” protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Politico reported.
“She didn’t have a cohesive message … and at the end of the day, her team broke,” Rep. Patrick McHenry said after the vote. “It’s a fascinating display of a bipartisan win and at the same time, Democrats ripping themselves apart about a bipartisan agreement.”
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., joined Pelosi’s opposition of the vote, according to the Washington Examiner.
“We have to be realistic, if this passes and there’s no guarantee of a Dream Act vote, then we’re going to have to deal with the reality that we have to find whatever means possible to put pressure on Speaker Ryan and the Republican Party to bring a fair vote on the Dream Act to the floor,” Gallego said.
Despite the lack of a DACA resolution, 73 Democrats still voted to pass the spending bill.
“The way you looked at the Republicans debating Donald Trump last year — that’s what the Democrats look like now. They look like they’re 16 different parties. Far left, moderate, someplace in the middle. I just think that there is no Democratic party right now,” Rivera said. “They’ve got to get their act together. Everyone’s talking about the big wave that’s going to sweep the Republicans out of the House in the midterms.”
He continued, “I definitely do not see it. I see President Trump’s popularity ticking up. I think the tax cuts will have an effect. And I think the market will come to its senses.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan promised on Thursday that the House “will solve this DACA problem.”
Pelosi continued to criticize Ryan and the passing of the spending bill.
“The fight in the House to protect Dreamers is not over,” she said, according to CNBC. “I’m greatly disappointed that the Speaker does not have the courage to lift the shadow of fear from the lives of these inspiring young people.”
The Trump administration has proposed an immigration plan that would create a path to citizenship for the 1.8 million young immigrants registered under DACA.
A debate on the immigration proposals will reportedly open next week in the Senate.
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