Democrats and some leading Republicans called for legislation to allow Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, recipients to remain in the country in the wake of Thursday’s Supreme Court decision against the Trump administration’s bid to dismantle the initiative.
The court’s Thursday decision did not examine whether the 2012 program was illegally created by President Barack Obama, leaving lawmakers and organizations to face off in the coming months leading up to the election about what to do with hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the United States illegally after being brought here as children.
Democrats largely called for Obama’s executive action to be made law. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, who is a member of the 2012 Gang of Eight that sought to forge a bipartisan immigration reform bill, called for Congress to “keep the government’s promise to Dreamers” and pass the American Dream and Promise Act. The measure would provide a pathway to citizenship for the 800,000 immigrants who have been DACA recipients since 2012.
House Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Sen. Kamala Harris of California urged the Senate to move on legislation.
“Every day that passes without protections for DACA recipients set forth in our laws is another day that these young people must live in fear of being taken away from their families and communities,” Harris said in a statement.
The top Senate Democrat, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, applauded the court during a floor speech but stopped short of calling for legislative action or promising to work with Republicans to schedule a vote on the bills.
Some Republicans called for President Trump to rescind the program again, while others said the time had come for a legislative solution, including Trump supporters Sens. Martha McSally of Arizona and John Cornyn of Texas.
“Today’s DACA ruling gives the White House and Congress the opportunity to do what is right and solve this issue with thoughtful legislation,” McSally wrote in a set of tweets. “I’ve fought many times in Congress to provide a legal status for DACA recipients while enhancing border security, closing loopholes in our laws, and modernizing our legal immigration system.”
Cornyn said DACA recipients, 96% of whom were born in Mexico and brought here before the age of 16, “must have a permanent legislative solution,” but warned it needed a “buy-in” from Congress and the White House to be successful.
House Judiciary Committee Republicans lamented the Court’s refusal to allow the Republican administration to undo an Obama-era executive action, saying it “hampers efforts to meaningfully restore sanity to our immigration system.”
Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, a House Homeland Security Committee ranking member, said Trump should “act quickly to deal with the additional legal loopholes.” Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia scolded the Supreme Court for its “power grab.”
Other Republicans who have, at times, criticized Trump, including Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, endorsed a legislative solution. Hurd said it is “beyond time” for bipartisan, bicameral action. Sasse said Congress had allowed the Supreme Court to become “America’s Super-Legislature.”
“Along with most Americans, I believe kids who were brought here years ago through no fault of their own shouldn’t live in fear of deportation – but that should be done via legislation,” Sasse said in a statement.
Businesses largely celebrated the court ruling, including the country’s largest organization of businesses, the Chamber of Commerce.
“The Supreme Court made the right decision today for Dreamers, our economy, and our country,” said Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas J. Donohue in a statement. “Removing 700,000 Dreamers protected under DACA from our economy would deny our country talent, future leaders, and an essential piece of the American workforce including teachers, nurses, doctors, farmers, and entrepreneurs.”
Marc Perrone, president of the country’s largest food union, said DACA recipients work in essential jobs and have been critical amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“With so many of these young people on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic working to ensure our families have the food and supplies we need, it’s more clear than ever that we need permanent solutions that will protect these essential workers,” said Perrone, who heads the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
The American Civil Liberties Union and American Immigration Council urged the Senate to vote on the Dream Act, which already passed the House. Immigration restrictionists such as NumbersUSA lamented the decision.
“NumbersUSA is disappointed that the majority opinion on DACA failed to consider what Justice Thomas rightly concluded: DACA was an illegal use of executive authority from the start. Clearly, an illegal policy must be reversed in order to restore the rule of law,” said Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations. “The court’s decision to require the administration to jump through additional procedural hoops to terminate an unlawful program that was created without jumping through those same hoops makes no sense.”
