The future of DACA hangs in the balance as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments about the program next week.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, as it's officially known, has broad support across the political spectrum. The majority of Democrats and Republicans tell pollsters that they support protections for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children — called DREAMers.
But the fate of the DREAMers is far from certain. The Trump administration is trying to end DACA, which it considers illegal. The high court may well clear the way for that to happen. And those in Congress still can't agree on a way to protect DREAMers.
In short, DACA demonstrates why it's so hard to forge consensus on immigration right now.
"There is so much agreement around DREAMers," said Jorge Lima, vice president for immigration at Stand Together. It's one of three nonprofit groups behind Common Ground, a traveling exhibit devoted to the idea that Americans have more in common on immigration than they think. "Which is a surprising truth to most people," he said, "who believe that we're so divided on immigration that we can't even talk about it."
To prove their point, the organizers of Common Ground recently took the exhibit to Nashville, Tenn., and set up shop for the weekend at an event called Politicon, which brings together pundits, professional YouTubers and Twitter trolls from all corners of the political universe.
Even at a convention of political junkies, DACA seemed to enjoy wide support among rank-and-file Republicans.
"I support DACA. Let's not make the kids political tools," said T.J. Dearman of Jefferson, Ga.
"I don't think that we should just deport them to a country they've never known," said Rachel Harrington of Nashville, wearing a Trump 2020 T-shirt.
"I think you're seeing a lot more Republicans say, 'Look, the DREAMers — that could be part of a negotiation,' " said Charlie Kirk, a conservative commentator with more than a million Twitter followers. "But how about we solve the crisis permanently at the southern border? So that in 20 years, there's not another DREAMer crisis."
There's also a smaller but vocal faction in the Republican Party that thinks DREAMers don't deserve protection at all.
"I'm getting so aggravated with the illegal immigration. I'm saying let them apply, back of the line wait their turn," said Sidney Kee of Clarksville, Tenn. "And if they need to be deported in order to wait their turn, deport 'em."
DACA still protects roughly 650,000 immigrants from deportation and allows them to work legally. And there are powerful forces in Republican politics that do want to see a compromise that protects DREAMers.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for one. And the Koch network.
Yes, those Kochs — the libertarian billionaires who've been accused of using their wealth to buy the American political system. Their donor network supports the nonprofit groups behind the Common Ground exhibit, which travels this week to Washington, D.C., after stops in Nashville and Miami.
The exhibit is a series of doors. Behind each one is a big TV screen that plays a short video about immigration that's focused on issues that many people have told pollsters they support, including DACA.
"We're not pretending that we're going to suddenly take, you know, someone from a very harsh anti-immigrant point of view, then voilà — there's this big aha moment, everything changes," said Lima of Stand Together.
"But what could change is the way they engage in the conversation," he said. "And so the other person no longer becomes an enemy but becomes someone that maybe they can work with."
Congressional Democrats have offered what they call a compromise on DACA: a pathway to citizenship for the DREAMers, in exchange for billions of dollars in border wall funding.
President Trump has said he wants to find a way to help the DREAMers. But he has walked away from several possible deals after taking heat from immigration hard-liners who oppose what they call "amnesty."
"I'm going to keep trolling him and attacking him until he fulfills his promises to the voters," said Ann Coulter, the conservative author and pundit, who appeared onstage at Politicon in Nashville.
Coulter wants to hold Trump to his campaign promises — including ending DACA on "day one."
"Part of the reason so many people came out to vote for Trump is that he seemed crazy enough that he might actually keep his promises," Coulter said at Politicon.
Hundreds of people packed the convention center auditorium in Nashville to see Coulter. Afterward, a few stopped to look at the Common Ground exhibit.
But most kept on walking.
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