Thursday, April 18, 2024

Koch group calls on congressional leaders to find a solution for DREAMers

Three groups affiliated with billionaire mega-donor Charles Koch are calling on congressional leaders to strike a bipartisan deal that would provide a permanent solution for DREAMers.

“Congress should seize this opportunity to act on another immigration priority with strong support among the American people: a solution for the Dreamers,” reads the Nov. 13 letter that was released Thursday.

The heads of Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Partners and the Libre Initiative said in a Nov. 13 letter released on Thursday that Congress should make DREAMers a component of an upcoming spending bill where border security will play a central role.

The Koch network has long sided with moderate Republicans and Democrats on the issue of providing permanent immigration status for DREAMers. An attempt to legislate a solution for DREAMers stalled in over the summer Congress, as Trump attempted to trade DREAMer protections for border wall funding and an end to certain legal immigration programs, such as the diversity visa lottery.

With the midterms in the rear-view mirror and a lame duck border security funding package in the works, some have expressed optimism that a deal is possible. Still, competing priorities on each side of the aisle are complicating the prospects for a bipartisan agreement.

“A legislative compromise that pairs a permanent solution for the DREAMers with additional funding for border security has again been proposed,” the Koch-affiliated groups wrote. “We believe such a compromise can be passed and enacted into law with broad bipartisan support.”

THE HILL