Photo Courtesy of U.S. ICE
With no agreement on immigration even on the horizon, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents should soon be very busy.
By Michael V. Cusenza
After Thursday’s closed-door meeting with members of Congress regarding immigration reform, we learned two things about President Donald Trump: which countries he characterizes as “sh*tholes,” and that he believes that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program “is probably dead.”
The Trump administration in September initiated the orderly phase out of DACA – the Obama-era policy that allows certain people, known as “DREAMers,” who came to the United States as children, and meet several guidelines, to request consideration of deferred action from deportation for two years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible for work authorization. Deferred action is a use of prosecutorial discretion to defer deportation for a certain period of time. Deferred action does not provide lawful status, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services noted.
New York officials this week ripped the president for his choice of words and his apparent inability to strike a deal on true immigration reform.
“The President of the United States made some remarks last night that I will not repeat. It’s not usual that you can’t repeat what the President of the United States says, but there are children in the room and it would disrespect my office as governor. But anyone who believes that this country is about keeping people out doesn’t understand what this country is all about,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Friday. “They have a short, short memory and they never really understood what made America great in the first place.”
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Councilman Mathieu Eugene (D-Brooklyn), a native of Haiti, which reportedly was one of the countries that fall into Trump’s “sh*thole” category, called the president’s comments “an affront to the very values of our nation and of the American dream.”
“The country is deeply divided, and the president should be focused on bringing unity by creating the spirit of trust and respect and putting an end to the cruel and senseless immigration raids that are tearing families apart,” they added. “The United States is and always will be an immigrant nation, and even as President Trump continues to dehumanize the very people who make our country great, New York City will continue to stand strong and defend our status as a sanctuary city.”
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) called Trump’s remarks “repulsive,” and characterized the protection of DREAMers as “a moral imperative.”
“Our country’s diversity is a strength. Our history and heritage of immigration have always helped us thrive,” she added. “These truths cannot, and will not, be diminished by hateful, racist words.”
