Break logjam on budget, DACA

The federal government’s reopening after a three-day shutdown brings a small measure of relief.

After furloughs were issued Monday morning, thousands of federal workers in Hawaii, ranging from Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard employees to Hawaii Air and Army National Guard staffers, are now glad to be back at work. And the fate of health care for nearly 9 million poor children — including some 26,000 keiki here — that had been held hostage in recent political clashes over spending is now secured with fresh funding.

But the bill signed by President Donald Trump, which will fund the government for three weeks and extend the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years, is also an anxiety-filled stopgap measure. Unresolved is the long-standing impasse on immigration policy and the “Dreamers.”

Nationwide, over 700,000 Dreamers — some 600 in Hawaii — came to America illegally as children, but grew deep roots here and now serve as valuable contributors in our communities, or hold much potential to do so.

Through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) that President Barack Obama created by executive action, these young adults have pursued higher education and jobs. Under the program, immigration officials let Dreamers stay put for two years, and permission to remain in the U.S. could be renewed. DACA is a good thing for young people snagged in circumstances they did not initiate. And it benefits the overall economy until Congress can figure a way to effectively rework the nation’s faulty immigration system.

Candidate Trump had promised to scrap the program, but President Trump, encouragingly, softened his stance. In September, he made a mixed-message decision toward dismantling DACA while giving Congress six months to save it.

A few weeks ago, as a government shutdown loomed, Trump met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers and appeared poised to back even broader changes that could help an estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally. He said: “If we do this properly, DACA, you are not so far away from comprehensive immigration reform, and if you want to take it that further step, I’ll take the heat.”

But unfortunately, when a promising proposal — which included protecting Dreamers from deportation and more funding for border security — was pitched, it was coldly rejected, sending Congress down this path of hyperpartisanship.

Now in the hot seat: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has pledged to put Dreamers legislation to an up-or-down vote in the Senate by Feb. 8. Given that polling finds three-quarters of Americans want Dreamers to be allowed to stay in the U.S., lawmakers owe it to constituents to commit to a vote.

Interestingly, when voting on the short-term shutdown fix, Hawaii’s Democratic delegation split, with Sen. Brian Schatz and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa supporting the measure, and Sen. Mazie Hirono and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard opposing it. Even so, they echoed one another’s frustrations over partisan deadlock. For example, while Gabbard complained the bill only prolongs government uncertainties, Hanabusa agreed but cited the priority of keeping Hawaii’s 33,260-plus federal employees and 40,000 military members on the job.

What this fissure among Hawaii’s Democratic bloc portends for chances of congressional consensus in three weeks is anyone’s guess. Optimists could view it as willingness to break from lock-step partisan immobility, to more pragmatic, productive action.

There have now been 19 shutdowns since the mid-1970s — each an enormous waste of time and money. The most recent was the 2013 two-week shutdown on Obama’s watch, when a Democratic-controlled Senate and a Republican-controlled House failed to reach agreement.

Our state’s delegation rightly contends that Congress must pursue a comprehensive funding plan and take action on DACA through regular order — rather than resorting to the unacceptable theatrics of a 20th shutdown. Our elected officials — our government — need to be better than that.