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White House Bill is a Scam: Trump Promised to Help DACA and TPS Holders; Instead the Bill Actually Guts DACA and TPS

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This past weekend, the White House hyped President Trump’s speech as a good faith offer that would deliver generous relief for DACA and TPS holders. The the actual bill was released, and just the opposite is true. Not only is the 1,300 page bill chock full of poison pills on asylum, detention and more, even the components supposedly aimed at attracting Democratic support are little more than bait-and-switch maneuvers. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post put it this way, [the bill is] a “phony ‘compromise’” that “has now been unmasked as a total sham.”

Among the key analyses that expose the Senate bill and its faux generosity are authored by David Bier of the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute. Bier assessed what the proposed Senate Republican bill would mean for TPS and DACA recipients. We excerpt them below.

Senate GOP Bill Doesn’t Extend TPS. It Guts It:  

“[T]he actual legislation that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced to implement his proposal does not extend TPS. Rather, it ends it as it exists now, and replaces with an entirely different program with much more restrictive criteria.”

Bier lists 12 TPS-related provisions and changes in the Senate Republican bill to underscore that his analysis (full detailed analyses of each of the below points available here)

  1. Ends TPS for 5 of the 9 TPS countries;
  2. TPS recipients will lose their jobs;
  3. TPS recipients must reapply for initial status;
  4. Much higher evidentiary burden;
  5. Massively increases TPS application cost;
  6. Minimum income requirement;
  7. Pay back legally-obtained tax credits;
  8. Bars those with pending criminal charges;
  9. Bars employment “contrary to the national interest;”
  10. Keeps TPS recipients from getting permanent residence;
  11. The new status cannot be extended; and
  12. All undocumented immigrants are banned from TPS in the future.

Senate GOP Bill Doesn’t Extend DACA. It Guts It:

“The Senate bill that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced to implement his deal does not extend DACA but rather replaces it with a totally different program that will exclude untold thousands of Dreamers who would have been eligible under DACA. It is important to remember that all of these requirements are for less than 3 years of relief from deportation and work authorization, not a pathway to citizenship.”

Bier lists 11 DACA-related provisions and changes in the Senate Republican bill to underscore that his analysis (full detailed analyses of each of the below points available here)

  1. Requires Dreamers to reapply;
  2. Much higher evidentiary burden;
  3. Imposes a monetary fine/double application cost;
  4. [Applies] “public charge” rule;
  5. [Establishes] minimum income requirement;
  6. [Requires] pay back of legally-obtained tax credits;
  7. Excludes Dreamers who ever claimed to be U.S. citizens;
  8. Excludes Dreamers with removal orders;
  9. Excludes Dreamers not in DACA;
  10. Keeps Dreamers from getting permanent residence; and
  11. Dreamers cannot renew status.

 

According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, “Trump, Stephen Miller and the administration are not making a genuine effort to connect with Democrats, they are making a painfully obvious effort look like they are. Even the supposed ‘good stuff’ regarding DACA and TPS turns out to be a scam. No one should fall for Trump’s rhetoric. As is mostly the case, if his lips are moving, he’s lying..”