DACA - the Next Big Fight?
From Vox:
Trump is reportedly close to a decision to cripple or kill the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protected DREAMers — unauthorized immigrants brought to the US as children or young teenagers — from deportation. If he follows through on that threat, hundreds of thousands of immigrants who graduated from American high schools and are legally allowed to work will find their lives in jeopardy.
So far, those campaigning to save DACA have held off on taking the fight to Congress because they fear it would play into Trump’s hands.
That’s partly out of fear that doing so would give cover to the White House to say that Congress bears responsibility for protecting these undocumented immigrants. One conservative argument against DACA is that President Obama’s White House overstepped in its authority in creating the program.Immigrants activists worry they would risk appearing to agree by asking Congress to intervene.
They also aren’t willing to give up on Trump changing his mind. “We’ve been trying to push the administration to save this program, so we don’t need a legislative fix,” said Angel Padilla, a spokesperson for Indivisible, a left-wing resistance group. “That’s been the focus for now.From Huffington Post:
Activists are readying an all-out push to pressure Democrats and Republicans to back S-1615, the latest Senate version of the DREAM Act, which would provide a direct path to citizenship for DACA recipients. The bill was introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and cosponsored by two other Republicans — Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — as well as four Senate Democrats.
In June, a coalition of 10 states led by Texas threatened legal action against the administration if the president did not end DACA by Sept. 5.
But on Thursday, rumors spread on Capitol Hill and in the advocacy community that an announcement ― and not the one they hoped for ― could come as soon as Friday, bolstered by a report by Axios that Trump was seriously considering ending the program. On Friday, ABC News also reported that Trump is leaning toward ending DACA.
Trump is facing a Sept. 5 deadline set by state attorneys general to end DACA or face legal action. Thus far, the Department of Justice has refused to say whether it would defend DACA if it came up in court, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions has long been one of the biggest critics of the program.Governor Inslee is adding his support to the effort for Dreamers in Washington state.
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