President Donald Trump signaled his intent this morning to end a program that allows illegal immigrants who arrived as children to live and work in the US without fear of deportation.
‘Congress, get ready to do your job – DACA!’ the president said on Twitter.
A weekend report said Trump was planning to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals scheme that his predecessor implemented five years ago at the conclusion of a six-month waiting period.
The move is designed to give Congress the space and time it needs to approve legislation that mirrors the executive branch program.
President Donald Trump signaled his intent this morning to end a program that allows illegal immigrants who arrived as children to live and work in the US without fear of deportation
A weekend report said Trump was planning to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals scheme that his predecessor implemented five years ago at the conclusion of a six-month waiting period
Activists ask Trump not to end DACA during a protest Monday outside the White House
Trump suggested this morning that he had decided to move forward with the previously reported plans, which first appeared in Politico, in tweets that preceded a Department of Justice press conference.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a leading Republican proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, offered the plan his endorsement on Monday evening.
Democratic lawmakers roundly complained that terminating DACA would be ‘cruel’ and ‘inhumane.’ They agreed, however, that it was time for Congress to use its legislative authority to preserve the program.
Barack Obama had not spoken out on the matter as of Tuesday morning, although it had been rumored that he would.
The White House said Friday that Trump would finalize and announce his position on DACA today. The action puts him in compliance with a deadline thrust upon him by conservative attorneys general promising to sue DOJ as a means of bringing about DACA’s end.