After winning back her Speakership on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Democrats will “make America more American” in the next Congress by protecting “patriotic” and “courageous” Dreamers.
While addressing Congress after getting back her gavel, Pelosi said: “And we will make America more American by passing… protecting our patriotic, courageous Dreamers.”
Pelosi said a version of the Dream Act will be a top legislative priority along with gun control and the Equality Act, which will extend civil rights protections to the LGBTQ community. Pelosi claimed that all three legislative priorities have bipartisan support.
After the 2018 midterm elections, Pelosi said she would prioritize amnesty for “patriotic” Dreamers and also hinted that House Democrats will bring up a broader comprehensive amnesty bill, saying Democrats could “now” talk about an amnesty bill after winning back the House.
Pelosi revealed after the midterm elections that she told Democrats in close races not to get into fights with President Donald Trump on illegal immigration, conceding that amnesty for illegal immigrants could turn off Americans in swing districts.
Now that Democrats control the House, all signs indicate that Democrats and Pelosi will go all-in on amnesty legislation to give a pathway to citizenship to Dreamers and possibly nearly all of the country’s illegal immigrants.
Pelosi has praised the illegal immigrant parents of Dreamers for bringing them into the country, saying that Dreamers “embody the best of our nation.”
When Pelosi was in the House Minority in 2014, she said she would rather pass a comprehensive amnesty bill than get back her gavel in the midterm elections that year.
Pelosi also suggested last year that having the Speaker’s gavel will give her “leverage” over Trump on important legislative matters for Democrats like amnesty legislation.