The DACA program was formed through executive order by former President Barack Obama in 2012 and allows certain people, called Dreamers, who come to the US illegally as minors to be protected from immediate deportation. Recipients are able to request ‘consideration of deferred action’ for a period of two years which is subject to renewal.
(Fox News, September 14, 2017)
Donald Trump predicated his presidency on reversing as many of President Obama’s executive orders and legislative accomplishments as possible. But nothing has exposed his fecklessness and frustration in this respect quite like the spectacle that attended his attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare.
No doubt this is why he has broken his promise on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). After all, remember this:
We will immediately terminate President Obama’s two illegal executive amnesties, in which he defied federal law and the constitution to give amnesty to approximately 5 million illegal immigrants,’ Trump said at a campaign event in August 2016, promising to end DACA.
(TIME, September 5, 2017)
Instead, Trump is attempting to codify the very immigration protections he promised to terminate.
President Trump affirmed Thursday morning that a deal was in the works with Democrats that would protect some 800,000 DREAMers who could face deportation when DACA expires next year in exchange for ‘massive border controls’ …
Early Thursday, he told reporters: ‘The wall will come later, we’re right now renovating large sections of wall, massive sections, making it brand new.’
(NPR, September 14, 2017)
Incidentally, Republicans left Obama no choice but to implement DACA by executive order, which everyone knew was easily reversible. Specifically, these same Republicans – who are now vowing to help Trump enact a more permanent solution – vowed as an article of political faith not to work with Obama.
In fact, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell famously admitted, these partisan SOBs wanted to make the first black president of the United States an abject failure – the welfare of the country, never mind the dreams of illegal immigrants, be damned. You’d be forgiven for thinking they reasoned that, if this one fails, whites would be less inclined to vote for another one. Which is why they must resent that Obama accomplished so much despite their unprecedented obstructionism.
In any event, not since former President George H.W. Bush broke his “read-my-lips” promise on taxes have supporters erupted in such anger over a presidential flip flop.
‘If AP is correct, Trump base is blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair,’ [Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), one of the GOP’s biggest immigration hawks] tweeted, referencing an Associated Press story on the bipartisan agreement. …
‘At this point, who DOESN’T want Trump impeached?’ [conservative firebrand Ann] Coulter tweeted on Thursday morning. …
‘This a betrayal of the highest order,’ a Breitbart editor, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said in a phone call late Wednesday.
(Washington Post, September 14, 2017)
But this political betrayal couldn’t have happened to a more deplorable bunch! And, as for those undesirable migrants coming from south of the border:
Ain’t no wall high enough
Ain’t no desert dry enough
Ain’t no river wide enough
To keep them from getting to US.
Support DACA/Dreamers
Related commentaries:
US-Mexico relationship…
Obamacare…
Legacy Note: With over 5,600 posts spanning 20 years, I am easily the most prolific blogger on the most eclectic array of topics on the web. That makes The iPINIONS Journal an unparalleled archive of informed political and cultural commentary. Visit the ARCHIVES section in the sidebar or search by topic. You won’t find a more consistent, independent voice on world affairs.