Advocates aid DREAMers with DACA renewals
Debate over program heats up after ruling
An immigrant advocacy group said it will will help DREAMers cut bureaucratic red tape starting Monday after the government announced it will again accept renewal requests from recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
CASA, the nation’s largest advocacy group for Latino immigrants, said Sunday that its legal department will begin making appointments and processing paperwork for the federal program that provides temporary protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants brought to the U.S. as children.
Last week, a federal judge in California ruled that President Trump acted improperly by planning to end DACA in March. Late Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said it would comply with the judge’s ruling and allow the program to continue while lawsuits go through the courts.
Immigration groups warned that DACA’s fate could change again if the Trump administration successfully appeals the judge’s decision.
Trump has expressed support for legislation to allow DREAMers to stay in the U.S. but wants it linked to funding a wall on the border with Mexico. He also wants immigration based more on merit, with rules tightened that allow U.S. citizens and residents to bring in relatives overseas.
Trump, who railed against the judicial system after the judge’s decision, went after congressional Democrats on Sunday. “DACA is probably dead because the Democrats don’t really want it, they just want to talk and take desperately needed money away from our Military,” Trump tweeted Sunday.
Trump’s tweet drew a response from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.: “Republicans and Democrats negotiated in good faith to reach a deal that gives you what you asked for in front of the country on Tuesday. It’s time to lead and support the bipartisan deal.”
A bipartisan group of senators have been working on a compromise. Negotiations bogged down, however, amid reports that Trump told lawmakers he would rather have more immigrants from Norway and fewer from “shithole countries” including Haiti and some African nations. Trump admitted on Twitter to using “tough” language at the meeting but appeared to deny using the phrase.