It doesn’t matter that 80% of the public supports Dreamers.
The 20% that are left are the Republican base. In the era of Trump, they are the heart of the Republican Party. They do not want any immigrants here, even from Norway, and this is a core issue for them.
Maybe the Senate will vote on the Dream Act, maybe they will even pass something, but it just doesn’t matter. There is no scenario by which the House will bring it for a vote. Paul Ryan won’t do it, and Republicans won’t sign a discharge petition to do it. If they did somehow pass it, Trump would veto it. We know his professed compassion for Dreamers is a lie. Trump will never accept Dreamers and allow them to thrive. Trump’s base would consider it the ultimate betrayal, and they are all Trump has left.
Republicans would rather let government shut down until November (and blame Democrats for standing up for “illegal immigrants”) than pass the Dream Act into law. We might be able to keep Republicans from getting the big defense spending in the budget they want, but we can’t help the Dreamers until the midterms at least. It doesn’t matter that the lives of 700,000 young people are at stake because that’s not what Republicans care about and they have the majority, for now.
Be prepared for a stinging loss, because it is coming. We will not win this fight today or next month or later this year. When we lose, that will not be the time to quit or attack each other. We will have to keep fighting together and crush the Republicans in November and in 2020. That is the only way.