Trump orders end to program protecting immigrant 'dreamers'
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday began dismantling Barack Obama’s program protecting hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, declaring he loves the “dreamers” who could face deportation but insisting it’s up to Congress, not him, to address their plight.
Trump didn’t specify what he wanted done, essentially sending a six-month time bomb to his fellow Republicans in Congress who have no consensus on how to defuse it.
The president tried to have it both ways with his compromise plan: fulfilling his campaign promise to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, while at the same time showing compassion for those who would lose deportation protection and the ability to work legally in the U.S. New applications will be rejected and the program will be formally rescinded, but the administration will continue to renew existing two-year work permits for the next six months, giving Congress time to act.
“I have a love for these people and hopefully now Congress will be able to help them and do it properly,” Trump told reporters.
Yet at the same time, the White House distributed talking points to members of Congress that included a dark warning: “The Department of Homeland Security urges DACA recipients to use the time remaining on their work authorizations to prepare for and arrange their departure from the United States.”
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said if Trump truly wants a comprehensive immigration reform package, including a solution for the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally, he’s certain to be disappointed. Congress tried that and failed in 2013, and GOP leaders immediately ruled it out Tuesday.
“Guaranteed failure,” Cornyn said.
If the goal is a more incremental package that combines a solution for the “dreamers” with steps such as visa reforms and enhanced border security, “there may be a deal to be had,” Cornyn said.
The DACA program was created by former President Obama by executive action in 2012, when it became clear Congress would not act to address the young immigrants’ plight in legislation that was dubbed the “Dream Act.” Trump ran his campaign as an immigration-hard liner, labeling DACA as illegal “amnesty” and pledging to repeal it immediately. But he shifted his approach after the election, expressing sympathy for the “dreamers,” many of whom were brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were very young.
Trump’s aides painted his move to gradually phase out the program as the best of bad options: State officials had threatened a lawsuit if he did not act by Tuesday to repeal the program, which has given nearly 800,000 young immigrants a reprieve from deportation and the ability to work legally in the U.S. in the form of two-year, renewable work permits.
Under the phaseout plan announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Department of Homeland Security was halting acceptance of new applications under DACA as of Tuesday. People with permits set to expire between now and March 5, 2018, will be able to re-apply as long as their applications are submitted by Oct. 5. Existing permits will remain in effect, and applications already in the pipeline will be processed.
Trump’s announcement came the same day as a deadline set by Republican state officials who said they would challenge DACA in court unless the administration rescinded it.