Plenty of blame to go around for ending DACA
Consternation over the president’s decision is compounded by a lack of leadership in Congress.
On Trump’s DACA decision, there’s plenty of blame to go around
Plenty of blame falls to President Donald Trump for his decision Tuesday to cancel his predecessor’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order that since 2012 has offered legal work and student status to those who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children.
As a direct result of Trump’s decision, 800,000 U.S. residents who have been living here lawfully under DACA now face an indescribable uncertainty.
Trump is wrong to play with the lives of these individuals in a political game that punts the issue to the House and Senate.
A real leader would have found a way to stall until replacement legislation was in place, ensuring the futures of these temporary residents weren’t destroyed by his action.
Instead, he issued a letter: “As I’ve said before, we will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion — but through the lawful Democratic process — while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve.”
Trump is giving Congress six months to solve this issue; after that, none of the shortterm work permits will be renewed, ending the legal status altogether.
Even if President Barack Obama’s order overstepped his legal authority, which we didn’t think it did, the ramifications of Trump’s decision to engage in a showdown with Congress could be that hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs, have to stop attending college, and even face deportation.
Trump will face blame for that ruination, even though primarily this national tragedy is a failure of Congress.
President George W. Bush’s 2007 Immigration Reform Act contained the original DREAM Act in its entirety, and Bush was ready and willing to sign the bill. But Congress failed.
A version of the bill has been introduced every year since, and Congress has failed.
In response to Trump’s announcement, Colorado leaders are stepping forward. Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, a longtime supporter of the DREAM Act, and Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, who once voted to defund DACA, signed onto the 2017 DREAM Act, together. Reps. Diana DeGette, a Democrat, and Mike Coffman, a Republican, have sponsored legislation together to bring three years of relief to DACA recipients.
The Denver Post’s Mark K. Matthews reports that Coffman has launched an effort to gather a majority of signatures in the House, so his bill with DeGette could skip committee and go straight to the House floor.
It’s a rare procedural move that, if successful, could greatly increase the bill’s likelihood of becoming law.
We’re proud such an effort is originating from a Colorado Republican and thrilled that Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat from Boulder and longtime champion of DACA, is supporting Coffman’s outside-the-box efforts when he could play politics instead and criticize Coffman for his evolving position on immigration reform.
Trump has done no one any favors by placing this politically charged question on Congress members’ doorsteps, but they must be the leaders Trump has failed to be.
Congress has been granted an opportunity to undo a decade of failure. To squander this chance now would only validate Obama’s decision to act on this issue through executive order.
A real leader would have found a way to stall until replacement legislation was in place, ensuring the futures of these temporary residents weren’t destroyed.