Political analysts said the explosive verdict will probably make it more difficult for Congress to pass the long-proposed Dream Act, but they disagreed on whether it will be a fatal blow.
“This definitely was a very isolated incident and unfortunately it did get exploited during Trump’s campaign,” said pro-immigration activist Sandy Valenciano of the Steinle case. “I really do think he used it strategically to rally anti-immigrant folks.
“Because anti-immigrant folks are still active now, I think this could potentially fuel those sentiments, but I’m hopeful that this will not affect our efforts for our Dream Act,” added the Oakland resident, who herself benefits from the 5-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA.
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