Sources have leaked to Politico that President Donald Trump has decided to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program from the Obama administration.
The sources stated that Trump will delay enforcement for six months and give Congress the opportunity to write proper immigration legislation.
Remember, DACA is not a law or even an Executive Order. All DACA is a Department of Homeland Security policy that officials announced via memo.
Congressional Republicans attempted to influence Trump from ending the program. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was one of those Republicans, but also said that Congress should do something with DACA. These Republicans have said that DACA is unconstitutional since Obama sidestepped Congress. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has also called for Congress to pass legislation as Politico points out:
“My hope is that as part of this process we can work on a way to deal with this issue and solve it through legislation, which is the right way to do it and the constitutional way to do it,” Rubio told CNN in June.
Others in Trump’s administration agreed. From Politico:
Conversations with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who argued that Congress — rather than the executive branch — is responsible for writing immigration law, helped persuade the president to terminate the program, the two sources said, though White House aides caution that — as with everything in the Trump White House — nothing is set in stone until an official announcement has been made.In a nod to reservations held by many lawmakers, the White House plans to delay the enforcement of the president’s decision for six months, giving Congress a window to act, according to one White House official. But a senior White House aide said that chief of staff John Kelly, who has been running the West Wing policy process on the issue, “thinks Congress should’ve gotten its act together a lot longer ago.”
Last week, reports came out that Trump would announce his DACA decision last Friday. But then on Friday, he decided to announce his decision will come this upcoming Tuesday. A few questions have come from this “leak.” As I mentioned before a lot of lawmakers within the GOP have tried to persuade Trump from ending DACA. Did someone leak this in order to change his mind?
Say he doesn’t change his mind. The ball is officially in Congress’s court to change immigration, either keeping DACA or embrace….amnesty.
Already the reaction from supporters of DACA is ballistic:
But some cooler heads have prevailed:
Here is the information on DACA from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on the Department of Homeland Security website:
What Is DACAOn June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible for work authorization. Deferred action is a use of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal action against an individual for a certain period of time. Deferred action does not provide lawful status.GuidelinesYou may request DACA if you:1. Were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;2. Came to the United States before reaching your 16th birthday;3. Have continuously resided in the United States since June 4. 15, 2007, up to the present time;5. Were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making your request for consideration of deferred action with USCIS;Had no lawful status on June 15, 2012;6. Are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed 7. Forces of the United States; andHave not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor,or three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.
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