Hell must have frozen over last week. As of Sunday afternoon, Congressional Republicans are still standing firm in refusing to give Amnesty to illegal aliens without significant immigration patriot gains in return. And they’re even deploying smart messaging to argue for their resolute position.

The federal government officially shut down early Saturday after the Senate failed to agree on a spending bill, which Democrats insisted must include permanent legalization for a subset of illegal aliens who came to the U.S. as minors (and are now young adults).

Republican and Democratic leaders have gone back and forth on a legislative “fix” for the soon-to-be-defunct Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program ever since Congress came back for the New Year. But nearly every “bipartisan” proposal has proven to be terrible for immigration patriots.

The latest awful “compromise” was unveiled last Wednesday by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL). This “Gang of Six” bill earned Main Stream Media applause as a “bipartisan” deal, although Republicans would have gained nothing.[ Exclusive: Pair of lawmakers unveil bipartisan DACA plan, By Tal Kopan, CNN, January 8, 2018] It would have given all illegal aliens who came to this country as minors—not just the nearly 800,000 who received DACA—a pathway to citizenship a.k.a. to voting Democratic, just in exchange for a pittance in border security funding.

The bill also falsely purported to eliminate the Diversity Lottery, when it in fact assigned half of the visas from that program to immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS)—“protected” because they hail from countries President Trump would call a “sh*thole.” The other half of visas would continue to go to migrants from “underrepresented” countries.

This sellout was supported by GOP squishes (“moderates” in MSM-speak) like Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Flake and Lamar Alexander. But fortunately it was shot down by the White House and Republican Congressional leadership. Democratic leaders were unwilling to go along with any deal more acceptable to immigration patriots. So they refused to vote for a spending bill that came before the Senate late Friday night because it didn’t give Amnesty to the Dreamers.

Now, in an astonishing development for long-time VDARE.com readers, Republicans are—finally! —calling out Democrats for favoring illegal immigrants over American citizens.

“Extreme elements of their base want illegal immigration to crowd out every other priority,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared early Saturday in the Senate. “Apparently, they believe the issue of illegal immigration is more important than everything else—all the government services the American people depend on.”

McConnell added that Democrats are shoving aside

veterans, military families, and vulnerable children to hold the entire country hostage until we pass an immigration bill they have not even written yet... This is completely unfair and uncompassionate. Mitch McConnell: Democrats Shut Government to Aid ‘Illegal Immigration’, by Neil Munro, Breitbart, January 19, 2018

It is quite a surprise, to put it mildly, to see the face of the GOP establishment deliver such effective talking points against the anti-American actions of the Democrats.

The White House issued a similar statement to McConnell’s and insisted there will be no negotiation on DACA until Democrats “start paying our armed forces and first responders.”

Highlighting how the opposing party puts illegal immigrants over the well-being of our brave men and women shows the true priorities of the Democrats—a winning tactic in the shutdown debate.

Furthermore, Trump released a hard-hitting campaign ad over the weekend that hit Democrats for siding with illegal immigrant criminals instead of the troops. Conservatism Inc. types and the mainstream media labeled the ad “vile,” in the words of Senator Brian Schatz (D.-Hawaii), presumably for not depicting illegal immigrants as valedictorians or decorated service members.

Here's the ad:

And here, incredibly, is former VP candidate Tim Kaine:

“Why does he call them illegals? Who made them illegal?” asked Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) of [GOP Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell. “When he stands up and calls DACA kids illegal immigrants — they are [actually] legal. They got protection from the president. He’s trying to make them illegal by ending the program, but they are here legally.” Shutdown messaging war: 'Illegal immigrants' vs. Trump mayhem Both Sides Are Fine-Tuning Their Arguments In The Battle For Public Opinion. By John Bresnahan, Politico, January 20, 2018

It’s hard to believe that Middle Americans will not be enraged to find top Democrats have abandoned the concept of illegal immigration—or that they will not consider the Trump commercial a better depiction of DREAMers than what is found in Leftist/ MSM Narrative.

The shutdown fight is a reassuring sign that the GOP is coming to embrace its National Conservative destiny on immigration. It will either get real concessions in DACA in terms of border security and immigration restrictions, or simply let DACA die if no deal can be reached.

This fact didn’t escape the Washington Post. The Leftist agenda-setter reported over the weekend: “In spending fight, Republicans embrace Trump’s hard-line stand on immigration.”

“We just had an election where this is a key issue,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a prominent conservative in the House, told WaPo in the article. “I think the people spoke loud and clear.”

It’s a good sign that the usually deaf Republican leadership finally heard this message and are holding the line in the DACA debate—something that would have never happened in the pre-Trump era. Coupled with the GOP Establishment’s sudden change of heart on this issue is the fact that two immigration patriots—Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Stephen Miller—still have tremendous influence on the White House concerning DACA and immigration generally.

National Conservatives can take heart knowing the odds look good—right now—that Trump and Republicans will not surrender on DACA.

Actually enacting patriotic immigration reform in this Congress may be more difficult, short of a DACA deal. But it that gives the GOP/ GAP a great issue for the fall elections.

Washington Watcher [email him] is an anonymous source Inside The Beltway.