WASHINGTON, DC – FWD.us President Todd Schulte issued the following statement today on the first day of the 116th Congress, while the federal government is still shut down:

“As a new Congress takes over, this is an opportunity for lawmakers to reopen the government and get to work on solving actual immigration problems. It’s clear by now that the ongoing shutdown is political theater. If the Trump Administration were actually committed to finding bipartisan solutions that included funding for the wall, they could have done so at various points in the last year. Unfortunately, the Administration killed at least four deals that would have combined protections for Dreamers and increased border security funding. During that time, the Administration’s efforts to end DACA and TPS have put more than one million individuals – who have been legally living and working in our nation for years – under threat of being ripped out of their communities and their jobs. That is absolutely wrong and hurts our entire country.

“We are encouraged by and thankful for the new Speaker and her leadership team’s commitment to passing legislation to protect these vulnerable populations, and hope to see a bipartisan bill to protect Dreamers and TPS holders, who are facing an urgent crisis. People’s lives are at risk. It’s time for the new Congress to get to work and end this manufactured crisis.”