Praise Temporary Court Reprieve for Dreamers; Call on Congress and GOP to Deliver Fix
Editorial boards across the country are weighing in on the implications the U.S. Supreme Court rebuke of the Trump Administration’s attempt to leapfrog the normal appeals process in hopes of ending DACA quickly — and pointing the finger at the GOP for congressional inaction. Others are weighing in to condemn the news that the Trump Administration’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services office is changing its mission statement to remove reference to America as a “nation of immigrants.”
Dallas Morning News editorial, “If Congress can’t find the DACA fix it so desperately needs, blame the GOP”:
“The Supreme Court did the nation, and especially the Republican Party, a favor Monday by keeping the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program established by former President Barack Obama up and running for now, despite a request by the Trump administration to clear the way for it to end Monday. The decision gives the Republicans who control Congress a needed second chance to replace the program before it expires.
…The Senate attempted earlier this month, but so far Congress has failed to produce a replacement. Had the lower federal courts not intervened to keep the program in place while legal challenges test Trump’s authority to end it, Republicans would have been faced with a Monday deadline that no one now suspects they could have met. That’s why all sides should be grateful that the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s petition.”
Houston Chronicle editorial, “We’re a “nation of immigrants” — whether the Trump administration likes it or not”:
“The United States has long taken pride in being a nation of immigrants. Our immigrant heritage has uniquely defined us and made us a better country. The Trump administration has never been comfortable with this simple truth and now has built its xenophobia into the mission statement of the agency that oversees immigration and naturalization efforts.
A badly worded mission statement will never change the truth that we are a nation of immigrants. But the misguided immigration policies of the administration that underlie the mission statement are a threat to the future of our nation.
…The agency’s true mission is to help this nation fulfill an essence that goes back to our founding. ‘The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respected stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges, if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment,’ George Washington said. Now that’s a mission statement.”
Wall Street Journal, “The Dreamers Deferred”:
The practical effect of the Court’s deferral is that DACA permits will continue to be renewed for now, despite President Trump’s March deadline for when legal protections would begin to expire. This will be a welcome if temporary relief to tens of thousands of young adults who came out of the shadows in good faith, only to now have to fear deportation to a foreign country they do not know.
The unhappy irony is that Congress may never pass a permanent solution without the threat of a time limit. The legal fight is likely to drag into 2019. The Senate this month tried and failed to pass a measure to help Dreamers amid opposition from restrictionists on the right and the anti-Trump “resistance.” Both would rather use the issue to clobber each other politically, and now they will do that through the midterms.
The GOP would be wise to continue to try to compromise to defuse this issue for 2018 and preclude a protracted legal fight. Congress rightly objected to President Obama usurping its authority on immigration, and it’d be no less lamentable if Members now ceded the legislature’s constitutional authority over immigration to the judiciary.
Sacramento Bee editorial, “California’s Dreamers are safe for now, but ICE raids target immigrants”:
“While this delay isn’t a permanent fix – much less a path to citizenship – it does keep Dreamers safe from possible deportation until at least the end of 2018, and perhaps longer. Those whose two-year DACA permits expire this year will be allowed to apply for renewals to keep working and going to college here.
This legal standoff also frees Democrats in Congress from being held hostage to protect Dreamers. Trump is trying to force through a terrible immigration plan that calls for spending as much as $25 billion for his border wall – a grotesque waste of money – and for ending programs that reunify families and diversify immigrants – a denial of America’s character. And if Democrats can retake control of the House or the Senate, or both, in the November election, they would be in a much stronger negotiating position for fair immigration reform.”
Orange County Register (CA) editorial, “Supreme Court Decision Doesn’t Change Need for Congressional Action on DACA”:
“Even with the March 5 deadline removed, Congress should not continue kicking a DACA fix down the road. A permanent, legislative solution is what’s needed, not more politicking and more litigation … Congress should have the decency to pass a DACA fix now and prove reasonable compromise is possible.”
NorthJersey.com (printed in The Record of Bergen County, NJ and the Passaic County, NJ Herald News) editorial, “DACA Recipients Given a Bit of Breathing Room”:
“In the near term, the Supreme Court’s refusal to fast-track the case takes pressure off current DACA recipients and allows them to renew their status — including work permits. The ruling also perhaps allows time for cooler heads to prevail in Congress, and hopefully allows for a reasoned, humane consensus on the issue.
Let us remember that these so-called “Dreamers” are people, and deserve to be treated as such. They certainly shouldn’t be used as bargaining chips in a larger debate on immigration. The great majority of DACA recipients have lived in the United States almost all their lives. Their friends are Americans, their classmates are Americans, their colleagues are Americans. In all ways that matter, America is their home.”
Springfield Republican (MA) editorial, “‘Dreamers’ Get a Break, But Only a Short One”:
“When the Supreme Court on Monday decided against getting involved in a fight over the status of the so-called dreamers, those who were brought here illegally as children, it offered them a sort of a reprieve. But, because Congress now feels no sense of urgency to act, the 700,000 who are protected from deportation by the Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals are in limbo while two lower court rulings are allowed to play out. This could take months.
If the Congress weren’t so constantly dysfunctional, and if the president weren’t so frequently putting up roadblocks, that would be more than ample time to develop a permanent legislative fix. But Congress is unabashedly dysfunctional, and President Donald Trump can’t get out of the way and accept a reasonable deal that would trade improvements in border security for protections for those who were brought here as kids. Thus, Monday’s non-move by the Supremes must be seen as good news, but with an asterisk.”
Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA) editorial, “Congress can no longer defer the Dreamers”:
“The practical reality of Monday’s decision is that DACA permits will continue to be renewed, despite President Trump’s March 5 deadline, setting a limit on when legal protections would start to expire. All this should come as good news to hundreds of thousands of young people who are living in fear of deportation to a country they don’t know.
…Public opinion surveys consistently show that most Americans, including most Republicans, support allowing the Dreamers to stay. Given the widespread popular support for what is a relatively easy immigration fix, it is unfortunate that the fates of millions of young people will continue to be held hostage to political gamesmanship.”
