Here's How Senate Republicans Have Voted On Dreamers And Immigrants

WASHINGTON ― Members of Congress will soon need to decide whether they want to grant some sort of relief to the hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants President Donald Trump put at risk of deportation and losing their jobs.

On the Republican side, many senators said they wanted to help after Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. But only six have publicly supported standalone legislation in 2017 to grant so-called Dreamers legal status ― leaving 46 Republican senators who have not endorsed any bill this year that would allow people who came to the U.S. as children to avoid deportation.

Lawmakers’ past votes could provide clues about how they’ll vote on this year’s proposals. Only one current Senate Republican ― Lisa Murkowski of Alaska ― supported the Dream Act, a bill to grant legal status to Dreamers in 2010. She also supported a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013.

Others have been less consistent on their votes for bills to grant legal status to certain undocumented immigrants. Every other current Senate Republican who was serving in Congress in 2010 opposed the Dream Act, either through a straight vote in the House or a procedural vote that prevented it from moving forward in the Senate.

Below are the votes of every current Republican senator on the 2010 Dream Act and the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill, along with their support for standalone bills this year.

NAME	STATE	2017 DREAM	2017 DREAM alternative Not yet introduced	2013 CIR	2010 DREAM House and Senate votes
Richard Shelby	Ala.	-	-	No	No
Luther Strange	Ala.	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Lisa Murkowski	Alaska	Yes	-	Yes	Yes
Dan Sullivan	Alaska	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Jeff Flake Voted differently	Ariz.	Yes	-	Yes	No
John McCain Voted differently	Ariz.	-	-	Yes	No
John Boozman	Ark.	-	-	No	No
Tom Cotton	Ark.	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Cory Gardner	Colo.	Yes	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Marco Rubio	Fla.	-	-	Yes	Not in Congress
Johnny Isakson	Ga.	-	-	No	No
David Perdue	Ga.	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Mike Crapo	Idaho	-	-	No	No
James Risch	Idaho	-	-	No	No
Todd Young	Ind.	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Joni Ernst	Iowa	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Chuck Grassley	Iowa	-	-	No	No
Jerry Moran	Kan.	-	-	No	No
Pat Roberts	Kan.	-	-	No	No
Mitch McConnell	Ky.	-	-	No	No
Rand Paul	Ky.	-	-	No	Not in Congress
Bill Cassidy	La.	-	-	Not in Senate	No
John Kennedy	La.	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Susan Collins Voted differently	Maine	-	-	Yes	No
Thad Cochran	Miss.	-	-	No	No
Roger Wicker	Miss.	-	-	No	No
Roy Blunt	Mo.	-	-	No	Did not vote
Steve Daines	Mont.	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Richard Burr	N.C.	-	-	No	No
Thom Tillis	N.C.	-	Yes	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
John Hoeven	N.D.	-	-	Yes	Not in Congress
Deb Fischer	Neb.	-	-	No	Not in Congress
Ben Sasse	Neb.	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Dean Heller Voted differently	Nev.	-	-	Yes	No
Rob Portman	Ohio	-	-	No	Not in Congress
James Inhofe	Okla.	-	-	No	No
James Lankford	Okla.	-	Yes	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
Patrick Toomey	Pa.	-	-	No	Not in Congress
Lindsey Graham Voted differently	S.C.	Yes	-	Yes	No
Tim Scott	S.C.	-	-	No	Not in Congress
Mike Rounds	S.D.	-	-	Not in Senate	Not in Congress
John Thune	S.D.	-	-	No	No
Lamar Alexander Voted differently	Tenn.	-	-	Yes	No
Bob Corker Voted differently	Tenn.	-	-	Yes	No
John Cornyn	Texas	-	-	No	No
Ted Cruz	Texas	-	-	No	Not in Congress
Orrin Hatch	Utah	-	-	Yes	Did not vote
Mike Lee	Utah	-	-	No	Not in Congress
Shelley Moore Capito	W.Va.	-	-	Not in Senate	No
Ron Johnson	Wis.	-	-	No	Not in Congress
John Barrasso	Wyo.	-	-	No	No
Mike Enzi	Wyo.	-	-	No	No

However, 11 Republican senators currently serving, including Murkowski, voted for a 2013 comprehensive reform bill that coupled Dream Act-type measures and a path to legal status for many undocumented immigrants with border security, enforcement and other changes to the immigration system. If the Dream Act is paired with border security now ― as Trump has demanded ― their 2013 vote could indicate they would also support a similar bill now.

Two of the four Republican senators now publicly backing standalone bills to protect Dreamers voted against the 2010 Dream Act but for the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) are co-sponsoring the 2017 Dream Act after opposing its 2010 iteration. They are joined by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who was not serving in Congress in 2010, and Murkowski.

Two other GOP senators plan to unveil a separate bill to protect Dreamers from deportation. On Monday, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) are expected to introduce that bill, which could potentially be a version of the House’s Recognizing America’s Children Act, or RAC Act.

In the House, the RAC Act would only grant legal status to Dreamers who came to the U.S. before they were 16. The Dream Act would apply to those who entered before they were 18.

Also on HuffPost

April 2015

At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”

June 2015

At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

August 2015

On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 

September 2015

On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”

November 2015

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 

February 2016

At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”

March 2016

At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”

April 2016

At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”

July 2016

At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied ― and every politician who has denied them ― to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced."

September 2016

At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”

September 2016

On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.