Thread: Trump Administration Signals No Immediate Reversal On Dreamer Program

Trump administration signals no immediate reversal on Dreamer Program


By Josh Gerstein 01/23/17

Applications from so-called Dreamers seeking to renew their immigration status and work permits are being processed normally, despite President Donald Trump's repeated claims that the program set up by President Barack Obama is illegal, a government spokesman said Monday.


A spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told POLITICO Monday that there was no immediate change to how the agency handles applications and renewals under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program Obama set up in 2012.


"We are still accepting/processing DACA requests under existing policy," USCIS spokesman Steve Blando said Monday.

It's unclear precisely how many applications USCIS approves each day, but according to the most recent public statistics - from the third quarter of last year - an average of about 140 initial applications and 690 renewals were approved each calendar day.



As of September 30, 2016, 73,705 renewals and 46,229 initial applications were pending. It's unclear whether those numbers surged due to applicants fearing Trump might end the program and how much of that backlog was cleared before Trump was sworn in last Friday.



During the campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to shut down the Obama-initiated program upon taking office. Trump's campaign website promises that he will "immediately terminate President Obama’s two illegal executive amnesties," apparently referring both to the 2012 action and a broader move Obama took in 2014 that was blocked by the courts.


However, no move to shut down the program was among the set of presidential directives Trump signed Friday and Monday.


White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested Monday that despite Trump's promise to move "immediately" against the Obama immigration actions, discontinuing the DACA program is not a top priority of the new president.


"I think the president has been clear that he is going to prioritize the areas of dealing with the immigration system, both building the wall and making sure that we address people who are in this county illegally. First and foremost, the president’s been very, very clear that we need to direct agencies to focus on those who are in this country illegally and have a record, a criminal record or pose a threat to the American people. That’s where the priority is going to be," Spicer said during his first briefing for reporters.


Spicer was vague about plans for those who currently have deferred action status or may be applying for it or renewing it soon.


"We’re going to continue to work through the entire number folks that are here illegally but right now the clear focus is on" those who pose a security threat, the spokesman said.


Later in the briefing, Spicer was vague about whether Trump plans any executive action and indicated that the White House is waiting to see what legislation on the issue might find traction on Capitol Hill.


"I don’t have anything further on the executive action front," Spicer said. "Give us a little bit of time, we ‘ll see what Congress moves forward with."


in recent weeks, Trump has struck a softer tone on immigration, especially with regards to the so-called Dreamers, who entered the U.S. illegally as children.


"We’re going to work something out," Trump told Time magazine last month. "On a humanitarian basis it’s a very tough situation. We’re going to work something out that’s going to make people happy and proud. But that’s a very tough situation."


On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus appeared to signal that Trump did not intend to move quickly to shut down the DACA program.


"I think we’re going to work with House and Senate leadership as well to get a long-term solution on that issue," Priebus said on "Fox News Sunday." "I’m not going to make any commitments today, but, you know, I’ve obviously foreshadowed there a little bit."






http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-...tration-234046

The DACA page has been up for illegal aliens to use and our government is still allowing it.

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/c...-arrivals-daca

We should be very concerned that DACA first time applications and renewals are going forward under the Trump Administration. Is it 140 or more first time applications every day and over 600 renewals every day? Imagine how fast these numbers add up.

So called illegal alien "dreamers" will have children, more anchor babies, and a set up for more claims of separation of families. This is millions of more dollars taken from taxpayers, American families.

This is giving more power to illegal aliens, lawmakers pushing for amnesty, to special interests.

Related:

http://www.alipac.us/f12/dreamers-ap...rmally-342499/

Senate needs to get his nominees confirmed immediately. Trump's not going to decide on this issue until after Sessions is in place as Attorney General and Tillerson is in as Secretary of State.

Originally Posted by Judy

Senate needs to get his nominees confirmed immediately. Trump's not going to decide on this issue until after Sessions is in place as Attorney General and Tillerson is in as Secretary of State.

He does need them in place Judy but not one new application for DACA should have gone forward or one renewal for DACA once President Trump was sworn in Friday. He could have instructed Dept. of Homeland Security, too. That page should be down.

Even the DACA recipients were prepared for it to end going forward. Thousands of renewals is thousands too many.

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeach

He does need them in place Judy but not one new application for DACA should have gone forward or one renewal for DACA once President Trump was sworn in Friday. He could have instructed Dept. of Homeland Security, too. That page should be down.

Even the DACA recipients were prepared for it to end going forward. Thousands of renewals is thousands too many.

You're absolutely right. Trump does not need his nominees to hold his hand on this. He, and only he, has the power to end DACA immediately. Furthermore, at the very least he could have brought an immediate halt to the acceptance of new applications.

Originally Posted by Judy

Senate needs to get his nominees confirmed immediately. Trump's not going to decide on this issue until after Sessions is in place as Attorney General and Tillerson is in as Secretary of State.

They're now in place and I guess he's decided. His "heart" wins out over his promise.

Now that Sessions is in place along with Kelly, it's up to Sessions and Kelly to enforce the law, and according to their statements Friday, that's exactly what they both intend to do. They're Cabinet members in charge of the departments responsible for enforcing US immigration law. They've got their marching orders from Trump, he wants the laws enforced, the border secured and illegal aliens deported. He's done his work, he's issued Executive Orders, Memorandums and Guidelines.

It's their job now to get 'em out and keep 'em out.

Trump's next job on immigration is to get the additional funding for the wall and the increased personnel for more BP Agents, ICE Agents and Immigration Judges and have other departments go through all their regulations to figure out how to get illegal aliens off the public dole until they're out of here. And he's going to try to get most of that done with the Supplemental Budget, if possible, to expedite the funding of the resources needed now to do as much as possible as fast as possible.

Once he does that, it's up to the Departments to Get R Done.

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeach

The DACA page has been up for illegal aliens to use and our government is still allowing it.

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/c...-arrivals-daca

We should be very concerned that DACA first time applications and renewals are going forward under the Trump Administration. Is it 140 or more first time applications every day and over 600 renewals every day? Imagine how fast these numbers add up.

So called illegal alien "dreamers" will have children, more anchor babies, and a set up for more claims of separation of families. This is millions of more dollars taken from taxpayers, American families.

This is giving more power to illegal aliens, lawmakers pushing for amnesty, to special interests.

But it all expires in June, right? It started in 2012 with 3 year periods, then renewed in 2015 and expanded, that's when Judge Hanen and the Fifth Circuit shut it all down, except for those already signed up. To rescind for those already signed up, required a DOJ ruling/determination to prevent lawsuits against the government. Trump can't do anything to rescind based on the court order until Sessions is confirmed. It will expire in June 2017 on its own accord if not renewed, because Obama changed the 3 year renewals back to 2 years when the states filed the lawsuits in 2015. The whole thing expires in June if it's not renewed. Trump won't renew it because doing so is unconstitutional, already ruled by the federal court of appeals.

So lets just hold our horses and realize government has 3 branches and a process and we want to do it right so there are no more lawsuits. Right now, the best thing is let it run out, do not renew it, kill any bill in the House or VETO it when it gets to Trump's desk.

Very simple.

I read a website today that says some of these DACA's are college students, studying abroad, who won't be able to get back into our country if it's rescinded. By June they should be back, then they can pack and get ready to go to their home country or be deported.

We still need to put out a full court press to make sure every member of Congress and every person in this administration knows without any doubt that there can be NO DEAL ON DACA.