The close relationship between congressional Democrats and immigration advocacy groups has been strained since the election as lawmakers shift rightward on border issues.
Those groups are asserting themselves as Republicans prepare to pursue a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities, Politico reports.
Failing to rally in opposition to planned GOP legislation, they say, would risk a more profound break between the Democratic Party and its progressive base while threatening resources across the U.S.
“All the Democrats need to hold together,” said Naureen Shah of the American Civil Liberties Union, who called the bill “a real test case” and “one that we have to defeat.”
The test is about the uneasy relationship between liberal advocates and many in the Democratic Party who blame progressive positions for President Trump’s victory last year.
Some 48 House Democrats and 12 Democratic senators voted for the Laken Riley Act, a Republican-led bill named after a slain Georgia nursing student that expanded the list of criminal offenses requiring the detention of undocumented immigrants. Advocates warned it would lead to the mass incarceration and potential deportation of migrants who had not been afforded due process.
The new GOP bill would in effect deny a broad range of federal funding to jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security — which is the case for many Democratic-led cities, counties and states. A version of the bill passed the House last year with 12 Democrats joining a united Republican conference.
The immigration groups are concerned that number could grow — and increase pressure on Democratic senators, who have traditionally been a bulwark against hard-line immigration restrictions due to the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for breaking a filibuster.
Advocacy groups are making a full push to oppose the legislation, with the ACLU holding meetings with lawmakers, sending letters to Congress and holding briefings for federal, state and local government officials.
Lawmakers are still feeling out how to calibrate their relationships with outside organizations, including some that represent immigrant-heavy communities.
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