Trump urged to save ‘Dreamer’ program
House speaker and business leaders call for preservation of migrant protections.
WASHINGTON — President Trump will announce Tuesday whether he will preserve the Obama-era program that shields young immigrants known as “Dreamers” from deportation, the White House said, as business, religious and congressional leaders urged him to do so.
As Trump wrestles with the issue, the leading Republican in Congress, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, joined Friday with numerous executives of some of the nation’s best-known companies — including Google, General Motors, Microsoft and Starbucks — in pressing the president to maintain the program.
Many of Trump’s allies on the far right are demanding he keep his campaign promise to end the program. Yet compelling stories of young beneficiaries growing up in the United States after being brought to the country illegally as children — working, getting educations, and serving in the military — have engendered widespread and bipartisan support.
“We love the Dreamers,” Trump said during an event Friday at the White House. “Over the weekend, we’ll have a decision.”
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said later that an announcement would be made Tuesday.
Trump has been under enormous pressure to end the protections, prodded by immigration critics and Republican attorneys general in 10 states, who have said they will file a legal challenge next week. One of those Republicans, Tennessee Atty. Gen. Herbert Slatery, reversed course Friday, withdrawing from the legal effort.
But Trump appears conflicted, having promised to have “heart” when it comes to the roughly 800,000 young immigrants who have paid fees and registered with the federal government and whose ability to work and remain in the U.S. would be in jeopardy.
“This isn’t a decision the president takes lightly,” Sanders said.
“I think the decision itself is weighing on him, certainly,” she said. “The president made very clear he loves people and he wants to make sure that decision is made correctly.”
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly known as DACA, provides temporary two-year permits that protect the immigrants from deportation if they remain lawful and are working, attending school or serving in the military.
As Trump heads to Texas on Saturday to survey damage from Hurricane Harvey, he could well hear from Dreamers. About 50,000 live in the Houston area and have long been an organized presence in the region.
Friday’s mobilization of corporate support, in a letter to the president, also was intended as a show of strength, to counter reports suggesting Trump was leaning toward ending DACA.
“Dreamers are vital to the future of our companies and our economy. With them, we grow and create jobs,” wrote hundreds of business and tech industry leaders, including executives of Apple, EBay, Crate and Barrel, and Cushman & Wakefield.
“As entrepreneurs and business leaders, we are concerned about new developments in immigration policy that threaten the future of young undocumented immigrants brought to America as children,” the business leaders wrote.
Ryan became the top Republican in Congress to intervene for the program when he said Trump should hold off while Congress considers a legislative solution for the young people in “limbo.”
“I actually don’t think he should” end DACA, Ryan said on WCLO radio in his hometown of Janesville, Wis., according to CNN. “I believe that this is something that Congress has to fix.”
Another top Republican, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, also weighed in Friday. “I’ve urged the President not to rescind DACA,” Hatch wrote on Twitter, arguing that the solution “must come from Congress.”
The business leaders, organized by immigration advocate Fwd.us, called on Congress to intervene with a legislative fix. Religious leaders, including evangelical Christians, have also joined in support of maintaining the program.
Slatery, the Tennessee attorney general, in a letter to the state’s two Republican senators announcing his reversal, cited “a human element to this” that “should not be ignored.”
“Many of the DACA recipients, some of whose records I reviewed, have outstanding accomplishments and laudable ambitions, which if achieved, will be of great benefit and service to our country,” he wrote.
Studies show that most DACA recipients — 87% — are using their work permits to gain legal employment, and 83% of those in school also are working. About 6% of DACA recipients have started businesses and 12% became first-time homeowners, according to a report from the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning advocacy group.
Also on Friday, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wrote, “I stand with the Dreamers.”
“Dreamers have a special love for this country because they can’t take living here for granted,” he wrote, adding, “We need a government that protects Dreamers.
“These young people represent the future of our country and our economy.”
Trump’s administration has stepped up detentions and deportations of immigrants in the country illegally, doing away with Obama-era enforcement priorities that targeted those with criminal backgrounds.
Ever since the collapse of a bipartisan immigration overhaul in 2013, Congress has not delved deeply into the issue. But several bills are now pending in Congress to protect the Dreamers.