Immigration Shocker: Trump Administration May Bail on DACA
DHS secretary suggests Obama executive amnesty not safe after all, feds won't defend in court
by Margaret Menge | Updated 13 Jul 2017 at 10:32 AM
Facing the threat of a lawsuit from Texas and nine other states, the Trump administration indicated Wednesday that it may decline to defend DACA in court, a move that would likely result in the end of the program that granted amnesty to illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. when they were children.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly went up to Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon to address members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, telling them, according to reports, that although he personally supports the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, he can’t promise that the administration will defend it if challenged.
Several members of Congress pressured Kelly in the meeting, and he responded by suggesting they work to pass a law.
Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a Cuban-American and a Democrat, told reporters after the meeting: "It's not a pretty picture."
At issue is the 2012 memorandum signed by President Barack Obama that allowed people brought to the U.S. illegally as children to apply for two-year work permits, and to be granted a reprieve from deportation. Anyone under 30 years of age who came to the U.S. illegally before the age of 16 and before June of 2007 is eligible.
The program was referred to by critics as a blanket amnesty, as it has effectively legalized more than 750,000 people who have been granted DACA status. These people have been able to live and work in the U.S. as though they were legal residents.
The Pew Research Center has estimated that another one million people already in the U.S. may qualify for DACA.
The policy led to a surge at the border in 2014 and 2015, with many families and unaccompanied minors flowing into Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.
"Logically, it really was the signal that if you get your kids here, we'll let you stay," Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform told LifeZette.
<..snip..>
http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/immigration-shocker-trump-administration-may-bail-on-daca/
