The organizers of the “Dreamer” amnesty movement are refusing to compromise on their demands for citizenship for themselves and for their parents who illegally migrated into the United States, Sen. Robert Menendez told Axios on Wednesday.
Menendez has long supported the award of citizenship to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) migrants who were brought to the United States as children by their parents. But, he admitted to Axios, “we can’t count 10 Republican votes to join us” in passing an amnesty for the young “Dreamers.”
“The reality… is when you talk to Dreamers, they will tell you, ‘Yes, they want to finally have their dream come true and have their status adjusted [to citizen], but they don’t want to leave their parents behind,” Menendez added.
He declined to criticize or praise the opposition. “I’m not so Solomonic to decide that I can accept, you know, a status for one group and not for others, when they themselves reject that proposition.”