Trump expected to end program for ‘Dreamers’

Six-month delay reportedly planned to allow Congress to address issue

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expected to announce that he will end protections for young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, but with a six-month delay, people familiar with the plans said Sunday.

The delay in the formal dismantling of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program would be intended to give Congress time to decide whether it wants to address the status of the so-called Dreamers in legislation, according to two people familiar with the president’s thinking. But it was not immediately clear how the sixmonth delay would work in practice and what would happen to people who currently have work permits under the program, or whose permits expire during the six-month stretch.

It also was unclear exactly what would happen if Congress failed to pass a measure by the considered deadline. Two people familiar with the president’s thinking spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter ahead of a planned Tuesday announcement.

Threat of lawsuit

The president, who has been grappling with the issue for months, has been known to change his mind in the past and could still shift course.

Trump has been wrestling for months with what to do with the Obama-era DACA program, which has given nearly 800,000 young immigrants a reprieve from deportation and the ability to work legally in the form of two-year, renewable work permits.

The expected move would come as the White House faces a Tuesday deadline set by GOP state officials threatening to continue suing the Trump administration if the president did not end the program. It also would come as Trump digs in on appeals to his base as he finds himself increasingly under fire, with his poll numbers at near-record lows.

Trump had been personally torn as late as last week over how to deal with what are undoubtedly the most sympathetic immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Many came to the U.S. as young children and have no memories of or connections to the countries they were born in.

During his campaign, Trump slammed DACA as illegal “amnesty” and vowed to eliminate the program the day he took office. But since his election, he has wavered on the issue, at one point saying those covered could “rest easy.”

Anger on both sides

Trump had been unusually candid as he wrestled with the decision in the early months of his administration. During a February news conference, he said the topic was “a very, very difficult subject for me, I will tell you. To me, it’s one of the most difficulty subjects I have.”

“You have some absolutely incredible kids — I would say mostly,” he said. adding: “I love these kids.”

All the while, his administration continued to process applications and renew DACA work permits, to the dismay of immigration hard-liners.

News of the president’s expected decision appeared to anger advocates on both sides of the issue.

“IF REPORTS ARE TRUE, Pres Trump better prepare for the civil rights fight of his admin. A clean DREAM Act is now a Nat Emergency (hash) Defend DACA,” tweeted New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat.

But Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican who has called DACA unconstitutional, warned that a delay in dismantling it would amount to “Republican suicide.”