Dreamers: Don't let Democrats fool you
Of course, the terrorist attacks one month later scuttled any discussion of immigration reform for the next few years.
When those talks began in 2005, with President George W. Bush eager to sign legislation, Democrats and immigrant advocates convinced Dreamers not to settle for the piecemeal approach of the Dream Act and instead demand what then Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda called in 2001 "the whole enchilada" -- namely, a path to citizenship for all 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. That was never going to happen. And Dreamers came away empty-handed.
Once President Obama took office in 2009, and started an enforcement juggernaut that would earn him the nickname "Deporter-in-Chief," many Dreamers were swept up and removed from the country. That continued even after Obama unveiled DACA.
Finally, in 2010, when the Dream Act died in the Senate because it didn't get enough votes for cloture, it was the "no" votes of five conservative Democrats -- Jon Tester, Max Baucus, Mark Pryor, Kay Hagan and Ben Nelson -- that killed it.
Dreamers, this is your wake-up call. Democrats want you to think they're in your corner. But it's not so.
The Democrats failed you. Don't let them fool you.
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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post Writers Group
