I posed a question to U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, earlier this month: Why did she not join with Northwest congressional representatives to request that the Department of Homeland Security extend a renewal deadline for DACA recipients from Oct. 5 to Jan. 15?
Fellow Republicans representatives Dan Newhouse and Dave Reichert joined in this bipartisan request.
As is common when asking a question of Herrera Beutler, the only reply I received was a form letter. It was actually a copy of the identical DACA form letter her office sent me the month before in reply to another email.
The representative says in her form letters that we “can provide assurances to DACA recipients in Southwest Washington who have done nothing wrong that we understand their plight and that they can build a future here in the only country that many of them have ever known.”
If indeed, DACA recipients have done “nothing wrong,” why not at least try to give them a reasonable time to apply for renewal and raise the $495 application fee?
I applaud Republican representatives Newhouse and Reichert, and Democratic representatives from Washington and Oregon who joined in the request for an extension. They demonstrated that they “understand the plight” of DACA recipients, and they had the political courage to do something about it.
