Erika Andiola, 30, an undocumented immigrant who is organizing protests in Washington, said she was tired of Democrats using immigration to “pander” to communities without following through.

“This is a time for them to show up,” she said. “Especially Schumer because he has a lot more leverage in the Senate to say, ‘This is on the top of my agenda, and I’m going to move my entire caucus to vote no on the spending bill if the Dream Act is not on there.’ But we have not been able to get him to even acknowledge that or say that. So it’s absolutely frustrating for a lot of us.”

In 2007, a version of the Dream Act won the support of a majority of senators but fell victim to a bipartisan filibuster that included eight Democrats. Three years later, the bill passed the House but again did not get through the Senate.

Then in 2013, language allowing Dreamers to stay in the country and work or attend school was included in a broader immigration package that passed the Senate with 68 votes — then failed in the House.

Over the next two weeks, Democrats do have significant leverage. House Republicans managed to approve a stopgap spending measure on Thursday without needing any Democratic votes for passage. But in the Senate, where Republicans hold 52 seats, Democrats could filibuster the next spending measure, an action that would take 60 votes to overcome.

So far, several liberal senators have vowed not to vote for a spending measure without a deal to protect Dreamers, including Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat and the original author of the Dream Act.

But others are likely to be more reluctant, especially more moderate Democrats up for re-election next year, like Joe Manchin III of West Virginia.