After a brief government shutdown, Congress reached a budget deal early today. The bipartisan agreement provides hundreds of billions of dollars in spending that will go towards health care, infrastructure, relief for disaster-stricken areas like Puerto Rico and other AFSCME priorities.
AFSCME President Lee Saunders said in a statement, “Finally, the congressional majority has reached across the aisle and reached a bipartisan deal – as their bosses, the American people, want them to.”
One looming question, however, remains the fate of the so-called DREAMers, children of undocumented immigrants, whose path to citizenship remains unclear. The temporary work permits they were given under former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program remain under threat of being revoked.
“It is outrageous that, for now, the DREAMers must continue to live with anxiety and uncertainty about their futures,” Saunders said. “I urge the House and the Senate to do the right thing for these women and men who have done everything expected of them, who know no other home but the United States.”