Rounds, Thune Hear from South Dakotans Benefiting from DACA; Noem Ducking

Senator Mike Rounds has been cagy about Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA). In September, when Il Duce set the March cancellation of DACA to pressure Congress to do something, Senator Rounds said he wouldn’t support allowing the young people protected by DACA status to stay in the country without some concurrent strengthening of border security. Senator John Thune wants to do something about DACA but figures there’s too much fiscal fuss on the plate to do anything about immigration until the new year (which gives Trumpist xenophobes more time to rally for harsher treatment of immigrants).

But Rounds and Thune have found a little time to hear out young people affected by DACA. South Dakota Voices for Peace reports it arranged meetings between the Rounds and Thune offices and South Dakota “DREAMers,” young immigrants who would escape the threat of deportation from the country they call home with the passage of something like the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act.

On November 29, 2017, South Dakota Voices for Peace convened a meeting with Senator Rounds at his Sioux Falls office. Senator Rounds appeared via video conference and spent over twenty minutes hearing directly from four South Dakota DREAMers, and a longtime community advocate and immigration legal services provider, Sister Janet Hortsman, a Presentation Sister with Caminando Juntos’ Hispanic Ministry. The DREAMers included nurses, a student majoring in computer science working full time to pay for schooling, and an aspiring small business owner currently in high school.

Similarly on December 6, 2017, SDVFP convened a meeting with three South Dakota DREAMers including one permanent resident who is friends with several DREAMers, and Mariade Cabello Acosta, Pastor of Pueblo de Dios, a Lutheran outreach ministry in Sioux Falls.  DREAMers shared their stories with Ben Ready, Senator Thune’s District Director.  These DREAMers included two personal bankers and a newly admitted student to USD working full time to pay for school.  Mr. Ready spent over 20 minutes with them discussing Congress’ next steps [South Dakota Voices for Peace, press release, 2017.12.06].

SDVP reports no concrete commitments, but at least they’ve gotten time to put a human face on the immigration issue with our Senators. SDVP notes that they’ve been trying to arrange a meeting with Rep. Kristi Noem since September but “a meeting time has yet to be scheduled.” Rep. Noem is evidently prioritizing ducks over DACA. Hmm… maybe they can catch her at her next Minneapolis fundraiser….