As Washington worries that a deal on immigration that might shut down the government, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen suggested that those registered with the government under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will be safe even if it expires.
DACA reauthorization has been at the center of the debate between the White House and lawmakers in exchange for funding for the border wall as well as ending chain migration and the visa lottery system. But Nielsen, in an interview with John Dickerson of “CBS This Morning,” said that the agency that enforces immigration laws won’t prioritize DACA recipients.
.@SecNielsen on #DACA deportations: “It’s not going to be a priority of @ICEgov to prioritize their removal. I’ve said that before. That’s not the policy of DHS.” https://t.co/PM1g9bB6jj pic.twitter.com/g91D33pne6
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) January 16, 2018
“It’s not going to be a priority of the Immigration Customs Enforcement to prioritize their removal,” Nielsen said. “I’ve said that before. That’s not the policy of DHS.”
In an effort to clarify her statement, Dickerson put himself in the position of a Dreamer interpreting her. Nielsen responded by saying, “If you are a DACA that’s compliant with your registration, meaning you haven’t committed a crime, you, in fact, are registered. You’re not a priority of enforcement for ICE should the program end.”
That’s an astonishing admission, especially for the Trump administration. If we take Nielsen’s comments at face value, the 800,000 DACA recipients who are living in fear of being deported can now breathe a sigh of relief.
If DHS policy won’t change regardless of whether DACA is reauthorized, what is the point of Democrats negotiating to have it reauthorized? There’s literally nothing for them to gain from these talks. All they will be doing is negotiating for a policy that, if anything, is symbolic to turn back to their constituents and say they saved 800,000 people from getting deported. But the price they pay will be $18 billion for the border wall and tens more billions of dollars for border security.
Democrats might be miffed that President Trump insulted poor nations by calling them “shitholes,” but they should be infuriated the Trump administration is taking them for a ride where they weren’t going to get anything out of this immigration deal.
Siraj Hashmi is a commentary video editor and writer for the Washington Examiner.
