Heather Curtis

WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly said he’s not willing to shut the government down over DACA, even though it’s a program he passionately supports.

“I don’t think it helps anyone to shut down the government, & it certainly doesn’t serve any purpose in promoting a cause I passionately support, which is that of the Dreamers. We need to do both,” Connolly told WMAL.

Congress is working as hard as it can to avoid a shutdown, according to Connolly, but he said the chances of that lessen with every hour a deal is delayed.

The last government shutdown in 2013 cost the National Capital Region $217 million a day according to Connolly. He added that nationwide, the economy lost $24 billion dollars over the course of the shutdown. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors were furloughed, and Connolly said many of the contract workers never fully recovered from it.

“There’s a direct economic consequence to shutting down the government, but maybe more importantly, it’s a breach of the contract with the American people,” Connolly said.

Ending DACA and deporting dreamers would also have a negative economic impact on the National Capital Region and would cost Virginia alone more than $711 million dollars in GDP according to Connolly.

“So the consequences are real both locally and nationally, and this is something we can’t afford,” Connolly said.

At a time when the workforce is shrinking, Connolly said it would be nonsensical to deport more than 600,000 “dreamers” nationwide, including more than 12,000 in Virginia.

But Maryland’s only Republican Rep. Andy Harris said there’s no rush to protect DACA because a federal judge said the president can’t end program in March like he said he would. The courts need to decide whether it’s legal.

“I think the worst thing to do would be to shut down the government over this issue while the compromise continues to be hammered out,” Harris told reporters during a conference call Tuesday.

Harris said every bill before Congress now offers some sort of status to “dreamers.” He added if the government continues to extend status to dreamers, it needs to also pass measures to disincentivize immigrants from bringing children to the U.S. in the future.

Connolly said he doesn’t know what kinds of protections Harris is referring to and disagrees that there’s no need to rush to protect “dreamers.”

“I understand my colleagues view about that, but if you’re a “dreamer,” can you take that chance? Do you want to have your whole future subject to the whim of a court ruling that the president can or can not do something by a March deadline?” Connolly said.

Harris added he has co-sponsored a bill offering temporary status to “dreamers” that also adds border security and other measures to stop illegal immigration.

A shutdown will happen if a budget deal is not reached by Friday.

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