U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, the Democrat from Denver who is an architect of compromise and reason on immigration issues in Washington, took to the floor of the Senate Wednesday evening to try to salvage a compromise on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

A deal tied to President Trump’s demand for a wall and more border security has sank into the partisan mire and could force the deportation of immigrants brought to Colorado and other states as children, called Dreamers.

DACA has 17,300 enrollees who have passed background checks in Colorado. President Trump has moved to shut down the program in March, putting the fate of  about 690,000 immigrants nationwide in question.

Bennet has more than the usual skin in this fight. He and fellow Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican, co-sponsored the Dream Act of 2017 to preserve the Obama rule that allowed young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to stay if they have good conduct and contribute to society.

Bennet also, of course, was a member of the Gang of Eight in 2013 who passed comprehensive immigration reform on a bipartisan vote in the Senate, before it died on the calendar in the House.

Wednesday night he told the senators to listen to the voices of the Dreamers.

“We actually (would) do something around here for once that’s not predictable, and that the American people would cheer for,” Bennet said of partisan gridlock. “There’s a lot around this place that I feel embarrassed about, but I think if the American people had heard the negotiations that went on for four months, the would have been proud of what they saw.

“Because they would have seen Democrats and Republicans coming together not to have one more political fight, but to solve a real challenge that’s facing our country – and to do it in a way that’s consistent with our traditions.”