GOP leaders try to save ‘dreamers’ program
House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders in Congress on Friday urged President Trump not to terminate an Obama-era program that has allowed nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers” to live and work in the country without fear of deportation.
Ryan, R-Wis., said in a radio interview that it was up to Congress to determine the fate of the immigrants enrolled in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which offers two-year work permits to those who have been in the country illegally since they were children.
Asked if Trump should follow through on campaign pledges to end DACA, Ryan told WCLO in his hometown of Janesville: “I actually don’t think he should do that. I believe that this is something that Congress has to fix.”
Ryan acknowledged that Republican lawmakers balked when Obama created the program through executive action in 2012, calling the move an unconstitutional use of his powers. But Ryan said the undocumented immigrants “are people who are in limbo. These are kids who know no other country, who were brought here by their parents and don’t know another home. And so I really do believe there that there needs to be a legislative solution.”
The Trump administration is facing a Tuesday deadline to rescind DACA or face a lawsuit from Texas and nine other states. The White House said Friday that Trump’s decision will be released Tuesday.
The president has reportedly been split between competing advice from his advisers. Immigration hardliners, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, have said the program would lose in court while moderates, such as Chief of Staff John Kelly, have said terminating it would be a political liability.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, also said he had lobbied the president not to rescind the program. In a statement, Hatch said Congress must provide “a workable, permanent solution for individuals who entered the country unlawfully as children through no fault of their own and who have built their lives here.”
Meanwhile, a small number of congressional Republicans are pitching a “conservative Dream Act” as a fail-safe. But it’s far from clear that Republicans could wrangle the votes to pass that bill in the House.
Congressional Democrats are more united in their response to DACA. The party is widely expected to use a Trump decision to end the program to withhold support for spending bills and other measures.