We know where Donald Trump stands when it comes to Ricardo, a 24-year-old DACA-mented man who works at a restaurant in Manhattan’s Trump SoHo. Speaking of Ricardo, Trump told The New York Times, “He’s got a legal work permit. I’ve heard he does a good job.”
But, Trump’s policy positions make one thing very clear: He wants Ricardo out, and out now.
All you have to do is look at Trump’s recently-announced immigration “plans,” where he flat-out stated what he’ll do with recipients of President Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals program, recipients like Ricardo:
Trump said, to begin, ‘we have to” rescind Obama’s executive order offering those brought to the U.S. illegally as children — known as DREAMers — protection from deportation, as well as Obama’s unilateral move to delay deportation for their families as well.
But the truth is, when it comes to evicting young immigrants like Ricardo from the only country they call home, plenty of other Republican candidates are following Trump’s lead like little lost puppies and agreeing they want to end DACA, or support the idea of ending it.
On April 21, 2015, Bush was asked again what he would do with the President’s executive actions on immigration. The specific question was: “Would you undo his executive orders on immigration? His answer was: “The DACA and DAPA? Yes I would.”
“You don’t build consensus through executive order,” he said, referring to Obama’s executive order on DACA and DAPA. If elected president, Christie vowed to reverse Obama’s executive orders “right away,” calling his actions “illegal.”
Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said the senator’s “top priority” is to end the deferred action program, noting that he is drafting a legislative proposal to prohibit the White House from broadening the policy.
Because of President Obama’s executive actions, [last] December, Congress only provided funding for DHS through February, 2015. The House passed DHS funding legislation, which included language to end DACA and the November 2014 executive actions. The Senate took four cloture votes to proceed to discussion of that bill. Paul voted to support the House bill all four times.
On DAPA and DACA, Rubio has said that he would “love to defund” executive action – and he voted with the rest of GOP Senators to proceed to consideration of the DHS funding bill, which included House-passed legislation to block DACA and the 2014 executive actions. He’s called for an end to DACA, though left things open-ended about how long the program might be allowed to continue.
Look, I think that we have got to stop all the unconstitutional executive orders, the end-runs around the law that this president has done. He may not like the law, but his job is not to change the law.
“Begin by undoing a whole set of things that President Obama has done, whether it is illegal amnesty or this latest round of EPA regulations.”
Ben Carson equated President Obama’s executive actions on immigration to treason.
“If things are done that are contrary to the security of this country, whoever does them is guilty of treason.”
As we’ve previously written, the “Trump Effect” is driving other Republicans to the far-right on immigration — and hard — risking a chance at the general election in exchange for immigration hardliner primary voters.
Just this week, several joined Trump in calling for an end to Birthright Citizenship for the U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants. And yesterday, Bush — himself the husband of a Mexican immigrant and father of three half-Latino children — railed on “anchor babies” at a town hall, this morning adding that he didn’t consider the derogatory term offensive at all.
With months left before the first Republican primary fight, there’s no telling where Trump will blindly lead candidates next. Most likely, over a demographic cliff when it comes to Latino and immigrant voters.