President Trump on Friday said he is stunned by Democrats’ inability to move on legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for the 700,000 recipients of the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“Cannot believe how BADLY DACA recipients have been treated by the Democrats…totally abandoned! Republicans are still working hard,” Trump tweeted Friday morning, referring to children who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents.
Cannot believe how BADLY DACA recipients have been treated by the Democrats…totally abandoned! Republicans are still working hard.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2018
On Thursday afternoon, a bipartisan bill by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; and Angus King, I-Maine, failed to pass the Senate. Many Democrats had viewed the bill as the chamber’s best chance of codifying the DACA program.
The proposal would have given the White House its $25 billion for border security over the next 10 years and provided a pathway to citizenship for anyone who has been continuously present in the U.S. since June 15, 2012, and under 18 years old when they arrived and no older than 38 when DACA was announced in 2012.
The original proposal, released Wednesday night, said the administration would make illegal immigrants who entered after June 30, 2018, a priority for deportation, but that was changed Thursday to Jan. 1, 2018.
However, the proposal did not address President Trump’s calls to end “chain migration” or replace the diversity visa lottery system with a merit-based program.
Liberal lawmakers and activists are likely to blame the Trump administration if the DACA program is rolled back before a legislative solution can be reached by March 5.
