According to multiple media reports, President Trump told Senate Republicans at a White House meeting this week that legislation to address the status of Dreamers should not be included as part of an end of the year spending package. Such legislation would address the needs of DACA recipients.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois responded to this development as follows:
President Trump’s reckless action to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program without a plan for protecting the thousands of recipients in Illinois and across the nation could easily be resolved. Simply attaching a DACA fix to the year-end spending measure would provide surety and certainty for thousands of young people serving our country, going to school and working to make our communities safer. It should be fixed as soon as possible without being caught up in demands for ineffective anti-immigrant provisions. DACA recipients should not be forced to live the next several months in fear and anxiety, uncertain about their future.
The President attempted to assure DACA recipients that they had ‘nothing to worry about.’ But his actions threaten to turn this simmering crisis into a nightmare for too many. It is time for leadership to fix this problem. The White House must demand a clear fix to DACA.
