Trump Tells 'Dreamers' to 'Rest Easy'

The president's comments follow a dispute over a young immigrant's deportation proceedings.

By Lauren Camera, Education Reporter | April 21, 2017, at 3:17 p.m.



Young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children can "rest easy," the president said Friday, telling the "dreamers" they will not be targets for deportation under his immigration policies. (ANDREW HARNIK/AP)


President Donald Trump says immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, known as “dreamers,” should not be worried about deportation.

They should “rest easy,” the president told The Associated Press in interview comments published Friday.

The remarks come on the heels of the deportation of 23-year-old Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez, who claims he was deported to Mexico "on or about" Feb. 18 despite being covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The program dates to former President Barack Obama's administration and covers young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

The Department of Homeland Security has disputed that claim. In a statement released Wednesday, the agency said Montes Bojorquez had violated his DACA status by voluntarily crossing the border into Mexico and was arrested Feb. 19 after re-entering the U.S. illegally.

Lawyers for Montes Bojorquez have filed a lawsuit seeking to have federal officials turn over information regarding his deportation.

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The Trump administration has moved to crack down on illegal immigration by stepping up enforcement and promising to hire thousands of new border agents. But the president has signaled a softer approach, both previously and in his new comments to the AP, when it comes to the some 750,000 immigrants granted DACA protection.

In the new interview, Trump said his administration's policy is not going "after the dreamers," but "after the criminals."

Meanwhile, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly were in the San Diego area on Friday to observe operations at the border with Mexico.

In a Friday interview with MSNBC, Kelly said Montes Bojorquez's situation was tied to his “irresponsible behavior.”

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics...ation-concerns