Democrats’ refusal to work with President Trump on immigration may have backfired.

A number of “Dreamers”–illegal aliens brought to the country as minors–are becoming dissatisfied with the Democratic Party’s inaction on providing a legislative solution to their situation, Fox News reports.



On Fox News’ “Outnumbered,” panelist Melissa Francis questioned Democrats’ resistance to the president’s immigration proposal–even though it would grant legal status and a pathway to citizenship for more illegal aliens than were covered by Barack Obama’s DACA program.

“[President Trump] begins with an outrageous position that no one thought he would take,” Francis observed. “He said he would give amnesty to 1.8 million dreamers, which is twice or three times what President Obama said, and then sent it off from there–and it was like Democrats didn’t take ‘yes’ for an answer.”

Cata Santiago, a 20-year-old who was brought to the US when she was eight, told Fox News she is “tired” of believing Democrats’ promises on immigration.

“They don’t walk their talk,” she said. “We’re tired of it. We’re tired of believing them when they say ‘It’s the Republicans.’ They make promises when they’re in an election, and when it’s over they’re done and don’t do anything.”

Santiago concluded that she’s no longer giving her support to Democratic politicians.

“I’ve decided to put my faith in my community [of Dreamers] and not in the Democrats.”

Monday was the deadline for DACA to end after President Trump pulled the plug on the program last year, but a federal judge ruled the government must continue to renew DACA permits while the fate of the Obama policy is decided in court.

The loss of a deadline has removed the sense of urgency for lawmakers, but beneficiaries of DACA continue to grapple with a sense of “uncertainty.”

“The Democrats made the calculation to kick the can down the road and allow hundreds of thousands of us undocumented youth to live in uncertainty,” said Maria Duarte, a Dreamer who participated in a sit-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Monday.

Roughly 800,000 illegal aliens are currently shielded from deportation by DACA. President Trump’s offer to grant a pathway to citizenship for those individuals and an additional million illegal aliens not currently enrolled in the program has been refused by Democrats because it would enact measures to reduce immigration.

In exchange for the amnesty, the White House’s proposal would eliminate the visa lottery, end chain migration, and fund a wall along the border with Mexico.

Democrats’ position has earned them backlash. Members of the illegal immigrant advocacy group Movimiento Cosecha told Fox News they will “continue to expose the Democrats’ false promises.”

Civil rights attorney Cesar Vargas wrote at the Huffington Post:

“Democrats relinquished the leverage they had for meaningful legislation protecting undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. Democrats like New York Sen. Chuck Schumer claim they have a master strategy to get legislation to the finish line.