Trump can help ‘dreamers’ if he wants
Donald Trump can begin bringing a divided nation together by supporting congressional efforts to protect the young immigrants known as “dreamers.” He can reinforce his own stated priorities by making it clear they will not become targets when he takes office.
The bipartisan effort in the Senate to protect dreamers from deportation under a Trump administration reflects justice and wise use of law enforcement resources.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin are working on a measure that would protect these young undocumented people if Donald Trump makes good on his campaign promise to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) granted by executive order by President Barack Obama.
After years of watching Congress fail to act, Obama took the executive route to protect these kids.
It was not the most desirable solution, which Obama acknowledged at the time. But it’s not amnesty, it’s not permanent, and it does not provide a path to citizenship.
It is temporary stopgap meant to protect de facto Americans until Congress passes immigration reform.
There was urgency because as these young people reach adulthood, they are unable to fully participate in society or begin paying back the country they see as their home. Yes, dreamers are undocumented. But they did not willfully break any of this country’s immigration laws.
They were brought here as children — some in car seats, some as babes in arms.
They grew up attending American schools and acquiring American values.
But even those who earn top grades and college degrees face the hard limitations of their immigration status.
DACA offered a temporary reprieve and allowed them to work or study. About 740,000 young people came forward under DACA and took a chance on the continuing goodwill of the United States. Their names and addresses are known to the federal government.
Trump’s vow to rescind Obama’s executive orders makes them particularly vulnerable.
There is an element of justice and mercy here.
These children truly are innocent victims of circumstances beyond their control.
None of them made an adult decision to break American immigration laws.
They were brought by parents, some of whom were fleeing violence or seeking to improve their lives with jobs that they easily found in the U.S. economy.
Making children pay for what their parents did is not a traditional American value.
But there are other reasons for giving dreamers a break.
Each has been vetted and determined not to be a security threat.
It would be a waste of limited law-enforcement resources to pursue them.
In an opinion piece in the New York Times, former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who was secretary of Homeland Security when DACA was put in place, pointed out “the rational and lawful reasons” for not wasting limited law-enforcement resources by going after kids who have been screened and found to be law-abiding.
Trump endorsed this line of reasoning in a recent “60 Minutes” interview when he said he would focus on deporting undocumented immigrants who are criminals or have criminal records. That’s not dreamers. For years, the American people — across the political spectrum — have shown support for dreamers.
Universities around the country, including Arizona’s three public universities, have expressed support for dreamers. As have politicians and faith leaders. The bipartisan legislation to protect the dreamers represents an attempt to fix this through Congress.
Trump should publicly support the effort. Once legal protections are in place, he can rescind executive orders that he feels represent overreaching by President Obama.
But it would be a mistake to do that without first assuring these young people that they were right to trust the United States government with their personal information.
Trump used immigration as a powerful symbol during the campaign, deepening divisions that have long made it hard to find a workable solution.
But there is no question that Congress and the new president need to fix a broken and dysfunctional immigration system.
Expressing his support for a bipartisan congressional effort to protect dreamers would be a good way for Trump to make his priorities clear and to bring people together for the tough job ahead.