In June 2012, the Obama Administration established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to provide temporary lawful status for children brought unlawfully to the United States. As of September 2016, more than 750,000 DACA requests were accepted.
On June 29th, ten state attorneys general sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling for the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The letter gives the administration until today to rescind the program or else the attorneys general would expand ongoing litigation (Texas v. United States) to include DACA in hopes that a federal court would strike it down.
The administration has indicated new applications for work permits under DACA will not be accepted. All existing work permits will be honored until their date of expiration, and applications that are already in the pipeline will be processed.
Below are Statements from House Representatives about DACA.
House Representative Daniel Kildee (D-MA, 5th):
“The Trump Administration’s decision to end DACA is heartbreaking. DREAMers grew up in the United States, brought here by their parents through no fault of their own, and we cannot turn our backs on them. They have registered with the government, pay income taxes and give back to the communities they live in. America is their only home.
“DREAMers make significant contributions to our economy. Nearly all DREAMers are in the workforce or in school. Our economy stands to lose hundreds of billions of dollars annually if these individuals are deported. This is not a partisan issue; business leaders and Republicans have joined Democrats in speaking out in opposition to ending DACA.
“Congress can and must act to fix our broken immigration system, including passing legislation to protect DREAMers. I have previously sponsored legislation to provide a permanent solution for these children to stay in America, become citizens and continue contributing to our country. Speaker Ryan should immediately act on legislation protecting these children from deportation. Congress failing to act will mean that Republicans are just as much to blame as President Trump for this cruel and un-American policy.”
House Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL, 16th)
“America is a nation of laws, and it is the sole responsibility of Congress to create and pass legislation. President Obama bypassed Congress when he originally created the program, but in so doing, he offered a pathway for these individuals to get right with the law. In 2015, I voted to support DACA because I believe these children, who only know America to be their home, deserve an opportunity to be here legally.
“With that said, Congress now has an opportunity to act on immigration reform and we have the support here to do it. As a cosponsor of H.R. 1468, the Recognizing America’s Children (RAC) Act, it is my hope that the House will consider this legislation, sponsored by my friend and colleague Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), so we can act on this important issue sooner rather than later. It’s critical that we act on a permanent, legislative solution that allows these immigrants, individuals who have come out of the shadows and contributed to our society and economy, to stay here legally.”
House Representative Ann Kuster (D-NH, 2nd)
“I’m deeply disappointed by President Trump’s decision to end DACA, which allows people brought to the United States as children the opportunity to work legally and live without fear of deportation,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “The young people protected by DACA are contributing to our nation in countless ways: they are serving in our military, paying taxes, and helping to create jobs and grow our economy. Diversity strengthens our fabric as a nation and this ill-advised decision is nothing more than political pandering that will hurt real people and families. Congress must act as soon as possible to reform our broken immigration system and extend protections to Dreamers across the country, including the hundreds in New Hampshire.”
House Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO, 5th)
"After eight years of the Obama administration dismantling our immigration laws, I’m encouraged by the President’s commitment to cracking down on illegal immigration, securing our borders, and reversing the unconstitutional DACA program. I have always opposed any type of amnesty and will continue to do so. But I also want to find meaningful solutions to this difficult problem, solutions that uphold the rule of law, protect our country, and ensure fairness in our immigration processes. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate over the next six months to achieve these objectives and fix our broken immigration system."
House Representative Leonard Lance (R-NJ, 7th)
“Like many of my colleagues I agree that President Obama exceeded his Constitutional authority and disregarded existing law to implement his plan for undocumented immigrants.
“Today President Trump has called on Congress to act and rightfully so. To this end, I am cosponsoring legislation that would provide a workable, permanent legislative solution for those individuals who entered our country unlawfully as children with their undocumented parents.
“Over the coming weeks I intend to work closely with my colleagues and the Administration to pass meaningful immigration reforms that will secure our borders, strengthen employment verification and provide a workable path for 'Dreamers' with DACA status.”
NOTE: Lance is cosponsoring H.R. 1468, the "Recognizing America's Children Act." The bill would grant high school graduates without a serious criminal record — and who don’t rely on public assistance — conditional immigration status. If, over a five-year period, they earn a higher-education degree, serve in the military or stay employed, they could apply for permanent residency and, eventually, citizenship. Enlisted military personnel would get to seek naturalization immediately. This bill is sponsored by Congressman Carlos Curbelo of Florida.
House Representative Jim Langevin (D-RI, 2nd)
“Today marks a sad chapter in our country’s history. President Trump’s decision to end the DACA program is a victory for anti-immigrant ideologues and further evidence of his Administration’s general lack of empathy. DACA participants are not criminals. Their average age of immigration to the U.S. is six and half years old, and it would be a miscarriage of justice for us to punish them for their parents’ decisions.
“Implementing today’s executive action will cause devastation to youth who are active members of Rhode Island’s communities and who strive for a better future. DACA recipients work, go to school, contribute to our economy, and serve in our military. They should not live in fear of deportation, rather they should be embraced as patriotic individuals who have always considered America their home.
“During the next six months, I will do everything in my power to protect DACA recipients from the Administration’s cruel actions and to find a permanent legislative solution to fix our broken immigration system compassionately and effectively.”
House Representative Rick Larsen (D-WA, 2nd)
“If reports are true that the administration will delay ending DACA for six months, then Congress must act soon and pass legislation to make the program permanent. The administration is not off the hook, however. It still must sign a bill Congress passes. I will work to get a bill that maintains this vital program on the administration's desk.”
Larsen is a cosponsor of the American Hope Act of 2017, a bill that aims to protect Dreamers and DACA recipients from deportation and gives them the opportunity to apply for residency status if certain requirements are met.
House Representative John B. Larson (D-CT, 1st)
“DREAMers were brought here as minors through no fault of their own, and have attended our schools, worked in our communities and have abided by the strict rules of the DACA program. Instead of supporting them, and allowing them to continue on a path towards citizenship, President Trump is stripping 800,000 young people of their legal status. In addition, this will have an enormous effect on our economy. There are 10,000 DACA recipients in CT. If these young people are no longer able to work, and contribute to the CT economy, we can expect an annual GDP loss of $315 million. This decision by the Trump Administration is unnecessary, cruel and harmful. Congress must act now to provide relief for DREAMers. I stand ready to work with my colleagues on a fix and call on Speaker Ryan to act quickly on a solution. I support the efforts of Senators Durbin and Graham in the Senate and its counterpart in the House introduced by Rep. Roybal-Allard. I plan on cosponsoring the Dream Act of 2017. We need to pass legislation to make DACA permanent for DREAMers,”
House Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA 13th)
“The United States of America is, has been, and will always be a nation of immigrants. As such, our immigration policies should be focused on keeping families together, not tearing them apart.
“Undocumented students who were brought to the U.S. through no fault of their own are working, going to school, living their lives, and contributing billions to the American economy. For five years, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has allowed these innocent young adults to remain united with their families and safely reside in their communities.
“Ending DACA in order to deport its nearly 800,000 recipients is cruel and heartless. Instead of devastating families, President Trump and Republicans should be working toward comprehensive immigration reform to permanently fix our broken immigration system.
“Since President Trump has abandoned these young people, Congress must have the courage to do the right thing. I call on my colleagues to pass bipartisan legislation that will give qualified DACA recipients a path to citizenship and move to stop the raids by ICE and CBP in our communities, which undermine public safety and erode trust between local law enforcement and immigrant communities.”
House Representative Sander Levin (D-MI, 9th)
“President Trump’s decision is reprehensible.
“Instead of taking the lead and pledging to work with Congress to make sure that 800,000 young people can live out their dreams in the only nation they have really known, the President puts forth the whip of deportation.
“Congress must now work together and act because this not what America stands for, not only for 800,000 dreamers, but for all of us in America as each of us lives out our own dreams, as did those who came before us.”
House Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA, 33rd)
“As an immigrant to the United States brought here when I was three years old, I know that our nation’s embrace of immigrants is what makes it great. Trump's cowardly decision to end DACA goes against the very forces that have made America an exceptional country. Deporting hundreds of thousands of Asians and Latinos—nearly half of whom were brought to the U.S. before the age of 7—is not only cruel, it will hurt our economy. One report estimates an economic loss of $460 billion over the next decade. I stand firmly with my Democratic colleagues to fight this action and do whatever we can to protect DREAMers. I call on Speaker Ryan to work with Democrats to extend the DACA program through legislation.”
House Representative Daniel Lipinski (D-IL, 3rd)
“President Trump had said that he would ‘deal with DACA with heart,’ but now it is up to Congress to act to protect these young immigrants,” said Rep. Lipinski. “Congress can do that by passing the bipartisan BRIDGE Act which would ensure that DACA recipients continue to be protected from deportation. I have always focused on bringing people together to solve problems, so earlier this year I proactively reached across the aisle to secure Rep. Upton’s support for this bill, which enabled me to also sign on as a cosponsor. I am hopeful that others join in this bipartisan effort to do what most Americans agree is the right thing to do.”
House Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA, 19th)
“President Trump’s cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program creates a moral emergency for our nation. Some 800,000 DACA recipients brought to the United States as children are today vital members of our communities and economy. They are as American as any of us – except for paperwork. President Trump’s decision to turn his back on them betrays our national character.
“The threat of court proceedings is an inadequate excuse. President Trump has never been reluctant to go to court when he thinks it would benefit him. In this instance, over 100 law professors recently affirmed that “the legal authority for the Executive Branch to operate DACA…is crystal clear.”[1]
“The impetus for the President’s action seems just as clear: an extremist, racist agenda. Seventy-eight percent of Americans oppose the deportation of such young people. [2] However, groups tied to the white nationalist movement have long sought DACA’s destruction.[3] Once again, President Trump seems to bend to the will of extremists rather than mainstream Americans, just as he did while condoning white supremacists in Charlottesville.
“Congress must stop this mass deportation of innocent young people. Democratic lawmakers already stand united in our support for DACA recipients, as we do in rejecting attempts to use them as props in broader anti-immigrant legislation. The Dream Act of 2017 (H.R. 3440), which I proudly co-sponsored, would grant them the legal status and path to citizenship that they deserve. The only question is whether Republicans will join the right side of history.
“The moral stakes could not be higher. The fate of some 800,000 of our nation’s young people who will forever consider America home hangs in the balance.”
House Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA, 11th)
“Congress must secure our borders, overhaul the convoluted immigration system, and effectively enforce the laws. Tweaks by Congress, and executive orders by various administrations, have created an immigration policy that favors illegal immigration and punishes those who want to legally come here to work. President Barack Obama's executive order was outside the constitutional authority of the executive branch, and I agree with President Trump's decision to reverse the order and call on Congress to fundamentally reform our immigration policy."
House Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY, 17th)
“President Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is immoral and wrong. DREAMers, who were brought to the United States as children, are Americans in the eyes of their communities. They grow up alongside our children, have graduated from school or served in the military, pay billions in taxes, and contribute to our economic growth and competitiveness.
“Today’s announcement continues a pattern of anti-immigrant actions and policies by the Republican Party. In an undemocratic and underhanded move, majority leadership stripped from an upcoming spending package a bipartisan provision, introduced by Appropriations Democrats, that makes DACA recipients eligible for federal jobs.
“It is past time for comprehensive immigration reform that gives these young people a path to citizenship while reforming our nation’s broken immigration laws, keeping families together, and protecting our economy and our borders.”
House Representative Ben R. Lujan (D-NM, 3rd)
DACA has enabled nearly 800,000 talented young people to contribute more fully to this country. They’re nurses, engineers, small business owners, our friends and our neighbors. These young people came to the United States under the age of 16, some of them only a year or two old. They grew up in the U.S., going to our public schools, singing the Star Spangled Banner, pledging allegiance to the only flag they’ve ever known: the American flag.”
“Since 2012, the 9,000 DREAMers in New Mexico have not had to live in fear of deportation. If the Trump administration moves ahead with this mean-spirited attempt to repeal DACA, those young people and their families will once again risk being torn apart.
I will oppose any attempt by the Trump administration to end DACA and rip these young people away from the country in which they have grown up and that they love and respect. Tearing families apart to achieve a political end does not reflect American values and will not solve our immigration problems.”
House Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY, 12th)
“Since 2012, when DACA was first launched, nearly 800,000 young people have been enrolled in the program. DACA helped breathe life into the American dream for a generation of people who came to the United States as children seeking a better future, just as earlier generations of Americans did so. These individuals are our neighbors and friends who have grown up here in the United States, who have done nothing wrong, and have only ever known the United States as their home. Before DACA, these young people had lived in the shadows of our communities. Since DACA began, these good-hearted Americans have come forward in hopes of being granted fully legal status and the chance to continue making positive contributions to their communities and our country without fear of deportation.
“DACA participants bring real economic benefits to our states and nation. A recent Center for American Progress assessment found that ending the DACA program would remove at least $460.3 billion from the U.S. GDP, cumulatively over a decade.
“I will continue to do all I can to protect DREAMers and reverse this decision as we continue to work toward real, comprehensive immigration reform. The BRIDGE Act and the American Hope Act are good places to start. House Republican leadership should allow votes on these important pieces of legislation. It is our diversity and opportunity that makes this country so great, and I hope all my colleagues will take that to heart.”
House Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY, 18th)
“In America we don’t punish children for the sins of their parents. These kids only know life in America, they work hard, they do things the right way, and make a contribution to our country. It is a cruel and stupid idea to ship these children to some country they barely remember and throw away their talents all because their parents did something wrong a long time ago.
“Folks in Congress need to get off their butts and pass a comprehensive fix for our broken immigration system that will secure our borders, get folks out of the shadows, and solve this problem once and for all.”
House Representative Roger Marshall (R-KS, 1st)
"The young people covered by DACA are not just a statistic on a DHS report. These are friends of my children, brothers and sisters of babies I’ve delivered, and members of my community. They didn’t put themselves in this position, and my heart goes out to them.
The United States is in this position due to the unilateral approach the previous administration took toward enacting DACA. It is because of that one-sided approach that we now have uncertainty and inconsistency throughout the entire immigration system. Consistency should be the hallmark of American governance.
Our resources, especially as they pertain to deportation, must remain focused on getting rid of bad people who present a danger to the American citizen – not a young person who is here simply due to circumstance. To date, 787,000 young people have legally registered with the U.S. government, and showed their willingness to follow our laws. We cannot allow that information to now be used against them in reverse order.
We are having these conversations now in Congress. Just a month ago, a Democrat colleague of mine and I got a bipartisan group of freshmen Members of Congress in a room to discuss what we can do to move forward on bipartisan, thoughtful solutions to the crises many communities and families are now facing.
Congress must use legal, legislative avenues to figure out how to help these young people, so long as they follow our laws. My priorities on this issue have always been, and will remain, to secure the border and help develop a workable visa for our farmers and producers back home. We must do right by them, by these young people and the safety of the American public."
House Representative Michael T. McCaul (R-TX, 10th)
“The administration's announcement today restores the rule of law. As I have said many times, immigration changes can only be made by an Act of Congress as enumerated in Article 1, Sections 1 and 8 of the Constitution; not through executive action as the prior administration did. This is the only way to adhere to and respect the separation of powers. Congress is already taking steps to improve our immigration enforcement and border security, and I look forward to continuing to work with this administration.”
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