Here’s how Congress could act to save DACA
With President Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that his administration was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), the White House made clear they want a legislative solution from Congress to protect the roughly 800,000 “DREAMers,” who came to the U.S. illegally as children and now face the possibility of deportation.
There are several pending bills in Congress, spearheaded by both Republicans and Democrats, that could gain more steam now that Trump has made the decision to disband the program in six months. DACA was first implemented by President Obama in a 2012 executive order after Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform or a bill that would have provided protections to immigrants who came here illegally as children, through no fault of their own, and who have no criminal record.
While Congress could pass a standalone bill to just address DACA, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders hinted in her briefing on Tuesday that Trump wanted “comprehensive reform” and dodged on whether Trump would sign a bill just addressed at DREAMers.
In a tweet later Tuesday, Trump seemed to signal he wanted broad immigration reform and didn’t single out DACA specifically.
“I have a love for these people and hopefully now Congress will be able to help them and do it properly, and I can tell you, speaking to members of Congress, they want to be able to do something and do it right,” Trump had told reporters just hours earlier. “And really we have no choice, we have to be able to do something, and I think it’s going to work out very well, and long-term it’s going to be the right solution.”
He later left open a chance that he could reconsider the wind-down if legislators reach an impasse.
If Congress wants to act to help DREAMers before their protections expire, there are several bills pending that could do the job — all of which could gain steam in the wake of President Trump’s decision.
But with Congress set to juggle many major tasks over the next month — including providing disaster funding for victims of Hurricane Harvey, raising the debt ceiling, passing a budget and addressing the White House’s push for tax reform — it’s unclear how much political capital GOP leaders can throw behind such a bill. House Speaker Paul Ryan has signaled his willingness, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not. And the legislative branch has not shown an ability this year to pass anything of consequence.