DACA is on the ballot in November
Shorter Trump: I Love Dreamers So Much I’m Trying to Deport Them
DACA is on the ballot in November
The Liar-in-Chief tackled last night’s question from a pro-DACA questioner with his usual bluster, obfuscation and mendacity. He said, “we’re gonna take care of DACA.” In fact, Trump has relentlessly pursued an end to DACA in order to threaten Dreamers with deportation.
- In September 2017, his first year as president, Trump ends DACA.
- Over the next six months, legislators bring him multiple bipartisan proposals to resolve the issue in Congress, and despite happy talk in front of the cameras, he blows up every single one of them.
- Stopped by federal courts for the unlawful manner in which his administration ended DACA, he insists that the case be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court where he hopes his hand-picked conservative majority will rule in his favor.
- When they do not, his administration defies SCOTUS and subsequent federal court rulings, refusing to reopen DACA and imposing new restrictions on the existing program.
- Many fear that as soon as the election occurs, his administration will take a wrecking ball to DACA once and for all.
So, when Trump says, “we’re gonna take care of DACA,” it is not encouraging. It sends chills down our spine.
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
Cutting through the Trump distortion field, let’s call it as it is: Trump is cynically trying to pose as a champion of DACA while his administration is aggressively trying to end it.
Last night he said, ‘we are working very hard on the DACA program, and you will be, I think, very happy over the course of the next year, because I feel the same way as you do about it.’ His actions speak louder than his lies. He wants to put Dreamers on a path to deportation.
So why is he lying? Because ending DACA and threatening the deportation of Dreamers, popular with a shrinking sliver of hardcore nativists in and out of the administration, is very unpopular with everyone else. As this polling roundup shows, by at least a 3 to 1 margin, Americans favor a permanent solution that enables Dreamers to live out their lives. Even a majority of Republicans favor a solution that enables those with DACA to remain here. If he’s known as the guy who ended DACA, he loses votes.
So Trump lies.
Trump is not the only Republican up for reelection confronting past DACA opposition. Senator John Cornyn in Texas has tried to cast himself as pro-Dreamer after a career of voting against the Dream Act. Martha McSally stumbled on her alleged support for Dreamers in a recent Arizona Senate debate. Thom Tillis in North Carolina, has made head fakes in favor of DACA, but retreats when rightwingers criticize him. Like Trump, these desperate Republicans scramble to have it both ways, offering faux support for DACA while backing Trump’s assault on it at the same time.
Make no mistake, the future of Dreamers is on the ballot this November. If you care about Dreamers, vote accordingly.
