President Donald Trump slammed Democrats this morning for “doing nothing” to protect young undocumented immigrants that were part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“Democrats are doing nothing for DACA – just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start “falling in love” with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS,” Trump wrote.
Democrats are doing nothing for DACA – just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start “falling in love” with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
But as the American Civil Liberties Union quickly pointed out on Tuesday, Trump was the one who ended the Obama-era program last year.
Reminder: You ended DACA. https://t.co/fld550hbaf
— ACLU (@ACLU) January 2, 2018
The White House announced in September that it had decided to end DACA and begin a six-month time frame for Congress to act on the program, which shields undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children from deportation.
Lawmakers have until March 5 to reach a solution on the program or risk hundreds of thousands of people no longer protected from being deported or allowed to work legally in the United States.
Talks are reportedly continuing between Republicans and Democrats about a fix for DACA, but Trump injected his own views late last week when he would not approve a deal “without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc.”
In October, the ACLU said it was suing the Trump administration for ending the DACA program seeking to “hold the administration to the promises it made and ensure that DACA provides protection from deportation for however long the program exists.”
Trump’s decision to end DACA sparked fierce outcry from Americans and led to protests across the country.