‘Stop talking’ & solve DACA
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration will begin unraveling the Obama-era program shielding from deportation people brought to the country illegally as children, while a split Congress has made no progress on writing similar protections into law as President Trump asked.
The phase-out of the 5-yearold Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program began Friday. After that, the administration will no longer accept or process new or renewal applications for DACA protection, even if they were mailed before the deadline.
Now, with five months to go before people begin losing their legal status, Congress is struggling to respond to Trump’s request for a legislative solution over an issue that has traditionally divided lawmakers along partisan lines.
The popularity of the socalled Dreamers, however, has prompted an unusual number of Republicans to favor action to provide them with legal status, even as conservative hard-liners continue to denounce such legislation as “amnesty.”
“We need to stop talking about it and solve it,” Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican who has co-sponsored one proposal, said earlier this week at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. “We know what a reasonable solution is and we should provide it.”
Permits issued before the deadline to live, work and serve in the military will begin to expire after March 5, continuing over the following two years. When Trump announced last month that he was ending the program, he said the delay gave Congress six months to send him legislation to put alternative protections into law for the roughly 800,000 Dreamers who have qualified for two-year permits to remain in the U.S. without threat of deportation.
Of the estimated 154,000 people eligible to apply for renewals, about 118,000 had sent in applications to the three federal processing centers in Phoenix, Dallas and Chicago by Wednesday, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Officials will only process applications received by the end of the day Thursday and will not consider forms postmarked on Thursday but arriving later, a rep for DHS said.
Democrats in Congress, including Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, repeatedly urged the department to extend Thursday's deadline, especially for people living in disaster zones in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus asked the administration to reset the deadline to January.
The Trump administration refused to move the dates.
The White House is expected to send guidelines to Congress soon for what it wants to see in legislation.
Several bills are making their way through Congress, including one from Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida that puts Dreamers on a potential path to citizenship; it has more than 20 Republican sponsors in the House. Another, from Republican Sens. Tillis and James Lankford of Oklahoma, also offers a citizenship process. DOZENS OF DACA protesters gathered outside Trump Tower in Midtown on Thursday, rallying against the uncertain future of the program. The demonstration against President Trump’s decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was organized by the Asian American Federation. “I’m here because I think it’s really important for Asian Pacific Americans to show solidarity for immigrant communities to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation,” said lawyer Michelle Lee, 25, who lives in Manhattan. Thursday was the deadline for those protected from deportation by the program to apply for renewal. Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) — joined by City Controller S cott Stringer and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer — offered words of encouragement to the crowd. “Ending DACA would be devastating for our country and economy,” Meng said. “It will literally rip our families apart. Do not give up the fight. People’s lives depend on us.” humanitarian immigration program since the refugee program that followed the Vietnam War. Under DACA, hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, brought here before age 16, earned the right to work and live here free from fear of deportation.
They have been remarkably successful. More than 95% are working or in school. With the get-up-and-go spirit of immigrants, and the audacity of youth, they are poised to make great contributions to our American future. Nevertheless, Trump ordered that only those whose DACA will expire no later than March 5 had until Thursday to apply for a two-year renewal.
President Trump said he wanted to help DACA youth, but he couldn't resist making them a political football. By announcing a phase-out, he is holding them hostage to his plans for increased border and interior immigration enforcement.
A compromise is likely. The border is already as enforced as it is ever going to be. Adding more technology and extra border guards won’t change much. However, if Trump and the Republicans insist on increased interior enforcement — meaning more money for raids and deportation — then expect immigrants and their friends to answer “no deal.”
DACA youth won't sacrifice their parents and friends just to save their own skins.
What if Congress doesn’t act? My bet is that Trump will extend DACA again. He has no choice, given the broad support for the DACA program from the business, religious and university communities. So no matter, the DACA folk are here to stay. You read it here first.