Delaney Statement on the Trump Administration Ending DACA

Statement

Today the Trump Administration announced that it will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allows young undocumented immigrants that were brought to the country as children to live without fear of deportation with an option to apply for a temporary renewable work permit.

Congressman Delaney releases the following statement:

"President Trump's decision to end DACA is cruel, heartless and mean-spirited. President Trump has repeatedly shown that he lacks a moral compass and subjecting individuals who were brought here as children to the immediate threat of deportation is inhumane.

"I find the rhetoric from the Administration that this isn't a massive deportation threat to be laughably hollow; President Trump has made it very clear he thinks little of immigrants and is focused on enacting an economically illiterate and immoral crusade against them. Anti-immigrant policies have been one of the few areas of consistent behavior in his chaotic presidency. There is no evidence that the Trump Administration has much interest in a compassionate or humanitarian immigration agenda.

"Congress should call Trump's bluff and quickly pass the bipartisan DREAM Act. Republicans control both chambers of Congress and now it is time for GOP leaders to put country first and actually move forward on protecting a policy they say they support."

Since the DACA program began in 2012, over 780,000 young people have been approved by federal officials to receive renewable work permits. Only individuals who are currently in school, who have completed high school or are a veteran and who have not committed a felony or significant misdemeanor are eligible for the program. DACA applicants must also pay a $465 dollar fee. In addition to supporting the DREAM Act, Congressman Delaney is a cosponsor of The American Hope Act (H.R. 3591), which would expand the DACA program and includes a path to citizenship.

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