The core issue that brought about this silly 72-hour shutdown is what to do about DREAMers. That issue is still alive and kicking and will take center stage as the next continuing resolution deadline, February 8, comes thundering upon us.

While Mitch McConnell has pledged a debate and vote on the issue, the important thing to keep in mind that the only deal on the table right now is the Durbin-Graham proposal dreamed up by the so-called Gang of Six. As I posted a short time ago, this deal is horrendous. Of the four points laid out by the White House as being the requirement for any deal–protect the DREAMers, build a border wall, fix chain migration, stop the visa lottery system–Durbin-Graham does only one. It gives lip service to border security, it gives protection to the parents of DREAMers–this will inevitably result in those people being made resident aliens–and it does zero on chain migration or the visa lottery system.

Did you know Flake-Graham-Durbin grants AMNESTY to parents of DACA population? The whole rationale of DACA is kids ought not be responsible for the crimes of the parents. But can't parents be responsible for the crimes of the parents?!

— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) January 21, 2018

Today the White House did the correct thing and put a strictly metaphorical bullet in the head of that crippled, sickly beast. This is Raj Shah talking with Wolf Blitzer:

This seems pretty definitive.

What it means is that there is no resolution to DACA in sight. The question is whether Schumer will try to use the next funding lapse as a way of ramming through an unabashed amnesty program…and then we’ll find out just how many people actually care about illegal aliens.