U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Friday President Donald Trump should not rescind an Obama-era program that protects immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, adding that Congress needs to address it.
‘I actually don’t think he should do that,’ Ryan, a Republican, said in an interview with WCLO radio in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin.
‘There needs to be a legislative solution. That’s one that we’re working on. And I think we want to give people peace of mind,’ Ryan said of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created under Democratic former President Barack Obama.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Friday President Donald Trump should not rescind an Obama-era program that protects immigrants who entered the country illegally as children
However on Thursday, the Trump administration insisted that President Donald Trump has not arrived at a decision yet on DACA, the Obama-era program protecting illegal immigrant children from deportation.
A senior administration official told Fox News that Trump is determined to ax it – and he could make a formal announcement this weekend.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told journalists on Thursday that the policy was still under review, though, and took a slap at the president’s favorite news network.
‘No offense to your colleague from Fox News, but I think I’m a little better informed than they are in terms of when the White House has made a decision,’ Sanders told a reporter from the New York Times, ‘and as I just said, it has not been finalized and when it is we will certainly let you know.’
An senior adviser to President Trump told DailyMail.com on Thursday that Trump had not ‘firmed up’ a decision, citing Tropical Storm Harvey and the unexpected amount of time and energy federal officials had spent responding to it.
The White House insisted Thursday that President Donald Trump has not arrived at a decision yet on DACA, the Obama-era program protecting illegal immigrant children from deportation, even though Fox News says he has
Protesters marched on Trump Tower on Wednesday urging the president to keep DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, in place
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told journalists shortly after the item went up that the policy was still under review, though, and took a slap at the president’s favorite news network
Receipts of deferred action will not have their work visas yanked, the official said, meaning that illegal immigrants benefiting from the program can continue to live and work in the country until their documents expire. For some, that could be another two years.
Some 800,000 illegal immigrants who came the the U.S. as children are under the protection of the Obama-era program.
DACA, the acronym for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, allows so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the country as kids, to remain in the United States on a semi-permanent basis. Recipients must reapply every two years for work permits.
As a candidate, Trump said he would end the program that Barack Obama’s administration put into place in 2012.
But his White House said as soon as he took office that it had no immediate action planned and that it was mainly focused on the removal of criminals.
Trump said himself in April that Dreamers should ‘rest easy’ for the same reason.
‘This is a case of heart,’ he said at the time.
He similarly told ABC News, ‘They shouldn’t be very worried.’ Remarking, ‘I do have a big heart.’
An NBC News/Survey Monkey poll released this morning affirmed the popularity of the program with Americans.
Nearly two thirds, 64 percent, said they supported DACA, while 30 percent said they are opposed it.
Roughly as many Americans, 68 percent, said in the same poll that they view illegal immigrants as a ‘serious problem.
Immigrants and advocates across the country are waiting to hear President Donald Trump’s decision on whether he will keep DACA which allows young people who immigrated to the U.S. as children to temporarily escape deportation and receive other benefits, started under President Barack Obama in 2012