Ahead of his reelection bid next year, Sen. Lindsey Graham dropped his support for the Dream Act, a bill to help undocumented immigrants that he co-sponsored each time it was introduced for nearly a decade.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin reintroduced the bill earlier this month. Instead of Graham as a Republican co-sponsor, Durbin paired with Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Graham told NOTUS he does not support the legislation because of the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the country.
“Yeah, there will be no Dream Act,” he said this week. “Not until you deal with the millions of people here illegally.”
Graham has undergone a major rightward shift on immigration in recent years. Once a key Republican backer of a 2013 comprehensive reform package including a pathway to citizenship, he has embraced President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
Durbin told NOTUS he hopes Graham will change his mind on the Dream Act.
“Lindsey’s up for reelection, so that creates a little political dynamic,” Durbin said. “He’s been very helpful to me in the past, and I hope if the time comes to vote, he’ll work with us.”
The Dream Act would create a pathway to legal status for some undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, commonly referred to as Dreamers. The bill proposes creating a conditional permanent status, which Dreamers would be eligible for after meeting a lengthy list of requirements.
Some of those immigrants are currently protected from deportation temporarily through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. Those protections are at risk under Trump, who opposes DACA and has sought to end it. While DACA still exists for now, no new applications are being considered, and recipients have even at times been detained amid ongoing immigration crackdowns.
In the past, Graham has said that his support for the Dream Act is conditional on efforts to “lock our border down.” But with record-low border crossings, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, he now says that the problem is immigrants who are already in the country.
“It’s not the border. What do you do about the millions of people who came here illegally? We’re not going to do anything on legalization until you get control of the interior problem.”
Graham’s embrace of Trump’s immigration policies includes co-sponsoring a bill with Sens. Katie Britt and Ted Cruz that would codify the president’s executive order on birthright citizenship, which has currently been blocked by the courts.
When asked about his change in position, Graham blamed former President Joe Biden.
“One of the consequences of what Biden did by obliterating the borders is made compromise on illegal immigration much more difficult,” Graham said.
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