Koch groups urge Congress to pass DACA relief for Dreamers
Two Koch-backed organizations are launching a seven-figure television advertising buy, urging Congress to reach a deal on Dreamers, an issue that has eluded lawmakers.
The ad by the LIBRE Initiative and Freedom Partners strikes a bipartisan tone, opening with vignettes of Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush talking about the importance of immigrants to this country.
"We are a nation of immigrants but we are also a nation of laws," a clip of Clinton says.
A narrator then says, "There's a bipartisan path forward on immigration. What are we waiting for."
Congress and President Donald Trump have failed to find agreement on relief for Dreamers after Trump cancelled the DACA program that allowed immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to be safe from deportation.
The push for bipartisan legislation is somewhat of an anomaly for the network that plans to spend up to $400 million on politics and policy. While they do promote bipartisan proposals, including criminal justice reform, their engagement in political races most often is an effort to elect Republicans.
The Koch network has backed the two components of a plan that Trump and Democrats agreed on: a path to citizenship fir 1.8 million people eligible for DACA and $25 billion to build Trump’s border wall.
“The Dreamers are among our best and brightest. They are students, workers, and men and women risking their lives in the Armed Forces. Washington must come together and approve a bipartisan solution that provides certainty for Dreamers and security improvements along our border,” Daniel Garza, head of LIBRE Initiative, said.
