Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
In this June 18, 2020, file photo, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students gather in front of the Supreme Court in Washington.
Friday, July 10, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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When the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump from killing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, it may have seemed like a cause for celebration.
And it was, but only to an extent.
The program, also known as DACA, protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, and definitely deserves to be maintained. But the Supreme Court ruling didn’t prevent Trump from taking another stab at eliminating DACA through executive order, which is exactly what the administration indicated it would do — and in fact may already have done by the time you’re reading this.
So with 650,000 Dreamers still facing uncertainty, the real reason for celebration would be if Congress would take the issue out of Trump’s hands.
Impossible? Maybe so, given the savage dynamics of the Republican Party under Trump. Scared of a Trump hate tweet and wallowing in a party where primaries have largely become a matter of who’s the biggest Trumper, Republicans are unlikely to vote for a DACA bill and even more unlikely to override what would almost certainly be a Trump veto.
However, while there’s not a lot of evidence of this yet, it’s clear the GOP is showing cracks in support for Trump’s administration as it lurches more deeply into race-baiting and undermining the Constitution. Voting for DACA would be a meaningful way for Republicans in Congress to show a bit more daylight between themselves and Trump. It’s a chance to do something Americans favor, and a Trump hate tweet doesn’t carry the weight it once did given his arctic approval ratings.
But regardless, Democrats need to hold their feet to the fire on the issue. And the way they need to do it is to offer it up with no other immigration reforms attached to it.
The last time it came up, Democrats bundled it with protections for two other groups — immigrants receiving Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and those affected by deferred enforced departure.
Those two groups should absolutely receive protection. But with Trump specifically targeting Dreamers, it’s time for the Democrats to present DACA by itself and force Republicans to explain why they oppose it.
Under this approach, the GOP would no longer have the excuse that Democrats pushed them too far by packaging DACA with other immigration reforms. The Republican cowards would simply be on the wrong side of public opinion, and of history, and there would be no hiding from it.
Polling shows that the vast majority of Americans — even Trump supporters — back DACA. A Politico/Morning Consult poll last month showed support for DACA among 68% of Republicans, 71% of people who identified as conservatives and 64% of respondents who said they approve of the job Trump is doing. Conversely, just 12% overall said they wanted DACA recipients deported.
That’s landslide support for the Dreamers, and other polling shows the same outcome.
The polling results stand to reason too, because DACA appeals to Americans’ basic sense of fairness.
These children certainly committed no crime: What, were they supposed to pull the pacifiers out of their mouths and tell their parents they were staying put in their home countries? And why should the many who grew up here be sent to so-called “home” countries where they’ve never lived and have few connections? Most Dreamers are Americans in every sense but having a piece of paper. They’ve gone to school and church here, made friends here, learned our culture and norms and become part of our fabric. One can assume nearly all of the Dreamers understand the history and the promise of America better than our dim president.
Keep in mind, too, that they have to apply for DACA to be granted protection, then have to reapply on a regular basis. Maintaining their status requires not breaking the law.
Kicking them out is an affront to American sensibilities.
But with four months remaining until Election Day and with Trump’s approval ratings in the tank, he’s going scorched-earth in appealing to the worst instincts of his base — among them, the sliver of hateful individuals who would kick out the Dreamers.
Democrats should take the high road and fight for DACA. No games, no add-ons, just a straight up-or-down vote on protecting those 650,000 Dreamers.
TPS and other issues can be fought another day — and must be. But the time is ripe for making another stand on DACA.
