Faced with a major political backlash over his decision to rescind the amnesty plan for 8,00,000 young illegal immigrants, with predecessor Barack Obama denouncing it as a “cruel” move, President Donald Trump has sought to assure that he would “revisit” the issue if the US Congress fails to act within the stipulated six months.
“Congress now has 6 months to legalise DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can’t, I will revisit this issue!” Trump tweeted, hours after stoutly defending his action in the name of safeguarding the jobs, wages and security of American workers and their families.
Meanwhile, late on Wednesday fifteen states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit in New York challenging President Donald Trump’s plan to end a program protecting young immigrants from deportation. The suit was first announced by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who called Trump’s act “a dark time for our country.”
Plaintiffs include New York, Massachusetts, Washi-ngton, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.
A noted South Asian advocacy group has, meanwhile, estimated the number of Indians affected by Trump’s action at over 20,000. While 5,500 Indians and Pakistanis have already received DACA permits, an additional 17,000 individuals from India are eligible for them, according to the group, called South Asian Americans leading Together (SAAlT). Official figures have put the number of Indians covered by DACA at about 7,800.
Trump’s assurance to “revisit” the issue came about even as several leading Republicans joined the Democrats in slamming the decision that promptly touched off protests in Washington and across the nation in support of the “dreamers” — the young undocumented immigrants who were brought to America as children by their parents.
The protests got a major fillip with former President Barack Obama breaking his silence on the issue and putting out a strongly-worded statement over rescinding his 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme to let 8,00,000-odd young immigrants come out of the shadows and work legally without the fear of deportation.
“To target these young people is wrong, because they have done nothing wrong,” Obama noted in his statement, adding: “It is self-defeating because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel.”
Differentiating it with other immigration-related issues, Obama said DACA dealt with “young people who grew up in America – kids who study in our schools, young adults who are starting careers, patriots who pledge allegiance to our flag.”
“These Dreamers are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents, sometimes even as infants. They may not know a country besides ours. They may not even know a language besides English. They often have no idea they’re undocumented until they apply for a job, or college, or a driver’s license,” Obama commented.
Contesting the Trump administration’s contention that it had no option but to act in the face of lawsuits threatened by a host of States, Obama cast it as “a political decision”, adding: “We shouldn’t threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us.”
“Ultimately, this is about basic decency,” Obama commented, noting: “This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated.”
Trump did not elaborate on how he planned to “revisit” the DACA issue if the Congress failed to legalise it or come up with a suitable alternative. In his statement issued earlier on Tuesday, Trump promised to work with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the issue. “As I’ve said before, we will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion — but through the lawful democratic process — while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve. We must also have heart and compassion for unemployed, struggling, and forgotten Americans,” Trump said.