Sen. Lisa Murkowski is helping President Trump achieve his tax overhaul, but she’s sounding a different message on immigration.
“America is a land of immigrants. It’s who we are,” she said on a video to support a campaign pressing Congress to pass the DREAM Act before the end of the year. “And from our farms to our hospitals to our laboratories, immigrants are helping to move our country forward.”
Murkowski is one of a handful of Republican sponsors of the DREAM bill in the Senate. It would help non-citizens who came to the U.S. as children stay in the country. Trump has said he wants to help the DREAMers, too, but he speaks more often about strong borders and putting America first. Murkowski’s video, on the other hand, plugs cultural diversity, refugees and immigrants in general.
“They’re lifting up our communities,” she said on the video, referring to immigrants. “They’re creating American jobs. They’re paying billions in taxes. They are Americans building America.”
As expected, Murkowski was appointed Wednesday to the conference committee that will reconcile the House and Senate versions of the tax bill. Alaska Congressman Don Young also has a seat on the committee. A top goal for both of them is to ensure the bill opens the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling.
Also on Wednesday, Murkowski joined the chorus calling for Sen. Al Franken to step down following allegations he groped several women.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
