In Response to 8-Yr Olds Fleeing Violence Today, GOP Says Let’s Deport 20-Yr. Old College Students Who Have Lived in America for Years
Elise Foley of Huffington Post reports that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is circulating a sign-on letter to House Republican colleagues demanding that President Obama end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program – a step that would subject DREAMers to deportation once again. Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, had this to say in response:
Here’s what’s happening. Children are fleeing gang and cartel-related violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and seeking safety throughout the region and in the United States. The Obama Administration is attempting to craft a balanced approach to this refugee-like crisis that combines short and long-term strategies, as well as protections for the kids and controls in the immigration system. We don’t agree with everything they are doing, but they are attempting to deal with the crisis responsibly.
Meanwhile, Republicans are engaged in shameless demagoguery. House Republicans are holding three hearings this week on the issue, Rep. Issa is calling for an end to DACA and Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) are working overtime to score political points. While crying crocodile tears for the kids, they are doing everything they can to blame President Obama for a situation that has much more to do with conditions in Central America than with U.S. immigration policy.
And now Darrell Issa is joining Ted Cruz in making the outrageous claim that the reason these children are coming to America in June 2014 is because the President initiated DACA in June 2012 for undocumented youth who have been in the U.S. since before June 2007. Have they no shame? It says something about the dominant Republican mindset that their preferred policy response to an 8-year old fleeing violence and arriving at our border today is to deport a 20-year old college student who’s been living here for a decade.
We get it. Republicans are bent on blocking the best chance we’ve had in a generation to pass immigration reform legislation and are now moving on to bully President Obama into holding back on long overdue executive action. But adults in the GOP should remember: after Mitt Romney pledged to veto the DREAM Act and end DACA in his 2012 presidential run, the Republican National Committee’s autopsy recommended one, and only one issue: immigration reform. Fast forward to today and we see that the Republican Party is now heading in the opposite direction.
The GOP’s position on immigration has finally been revealed: keep the 11 million undocumented immigrants in America deportable, end DACA and subject Dreamers to deportation and try to keep Obama from taking executive action that would define the differences between the two parties on an issue of great importance to the fastest growing groups of voters in America. Let’s hope that the Obama Administration continues to take responsible action to deal with the kids at the border, and let’s hope that the President stands up to the GOP’s irresponsibility and takes responsible action on behalf of the 11 million hard working undocumented immigrants settled in America.
Days Since Senate Passed its Immigration Bill; 3 Days Left Until Window of Opportunity Closes
