Senators Lindsey Graham (R) and Richard Rubin (D) speaking about DACA legislation. Reuters.
Donald Trump has ended the controversial Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) giving congress a six month window to come up with a solution. Reuters. The so called "Dreamers" are illegal aliens who were brought here by their parents. Under the DACA program they were given an amnesty and were allowed to work without fear of deportation. Trump said he had "great love" for people granted DACA amnesty and that he hoped that congress would come up with a solution. If no solution is passed the so called "Dreamers" could face deportation, but would not be priorities unless they are also gang members or criminals. DACA was in legal trouble as several state attorney generals had filed a suit against it and were likely to win. 800,000 people have applied for DACA status.
My Comment:
I was never a fan of DACA or the so called "Dreamers", which is a term I hate. I always viewed the program as a way of rewarding criminality. I understand that these people were brought here as children, but that doesn't mean they deserve anything other than deportation. If someone breaks into your house with their child and the cops arrest the parent, you aren't now responsible for raising that child. Sure, that kid will probably have a crappy life because their parent was scum, but that doesn't mean you have any responsibility for them at all. Just like we have no responsibility for the "Dreamers".
And I also think that these people hurt America. There are 800,000 "dreamers" and most of them work. Every single one of those people is taking a job that an American can do or at least go to someone who came to America via the legal route. They are also taking benefits that could go to American citizens. And they are going to college on our dime, for free, raising tuition costs and taking up space for legal residents.
That being said, DACA was doomed no mater what. The legal challenge against DACA was going to work. The similar program, DAPA, which allowed illegal parents of legal citizens to stay in the country was struck down in a rare 4-4 descion that confirmed a ruling that said deferred action programs were illegal because of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The legal issues were rendered moot by the Trump Administration because they dropped the case, but if the lawsuit against DACA continued, it would almost certainly be ruled illegal in a 5-4 Supreme Court descion.
Trump had a couple of choices, but leaving DACA intact wasn't ever going to be one of them. He wasn't going to defend a bad executive choice by Barack Obama, especially one that doesn't help America citizens.
That being said, he also didn't have to give Congress a six month window to come up with some kind of amnesty program for the "Dreamers". Trump has always been soft on the "Dreamers" and even during his campaign he said he wasn't interested in deporting them. I think this concern is genuine, but will put him at odds with his base. I am guessing that many of his supporters will not be happy that he didn't start deporting these people right away and won't make them a priority after the six month period is over.
I do think that by punting to congress he might encourage primary challenges for anyone who supports DACA legislation. If an amnesty is passed, I expect that it will be hugely unpopular for the GOP base and that will have election consequences for people that support DACA legislation. Though Trump seems like he is waffling on the issue, he can still capitalize on it to get rid of anti-Trump senators and representatives.
What will congress do? I don't know. This congress has been completely incapable of passing anything, so I doubt much will come of this. I think that Trump knows this and under normal circumstances it would be a win win situation for him. His base will be pleased that DACA is finally gone but his critics won't be able to attack him for it because now congress owns it. And if a DACA solution is passed by congress, he won't get the blame because he wasn't the one that passed the legislation.
Unfortunately, I don't see it working out that way for Trump. Already the media is parading out dozens of "Dreamers" with sob stories about how they don't want to go back while conveniently ignoring people who have been victimized by "dreamers". Even thought DACA was going away no matter what, either through it expiring or dying to a legal challenge, the media is painting this as 100% completely Trump's fault. And a few of his supporters, notably Ann Coulter, are saying that he never should have given congress a chance to fix the issue and should have just deported everyone six months ago.
Finally, I think that Trump wasted an opportunity here for a compromise. A lot of congress wanted DACA but were not helping Trump on the border wall, which is even more popular than ending DACA. Had he arranged a bargain where the DACA people got an amnesty but only if funds were secured for the border wall almost everyone would be happy. I don't know if congress would have gone for that or if Trump tried that already and failed, but if it had worked out it would have been a good example a bipartisan deal...
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