Politics

White House: Court Ruling Forcing DACA Preservation ‘Outrageous’

Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is protesting a late night Monday order by a Clinton appointed federal judge in California that preserves the DACA program.

“We find this decision to be outrageous, especially in light of the President’s successful bipartisan meeting with House and Senate members at the White House on the same day,” Sanders said in a Tuesday statement. “An issue of this magnitude must go through the normal legislative process. President Trump is committed to the rule of law, and will work with members of both parties to reach a permanent solution that corrects the unconstitutional actions taken by the last administration.”

The Department of Justice issued a similar statement early Tuesday morning decrying the ruling, saying “tonight’s order doesn’t change the Department of Justice’s position on the facts.”

President Trump himself weighed in with a Tuesday morning tweet, in which he claimed the ruling shows just “how broken and unfair our Court System is.”

“DACA was implemented unilaterally after Congress declined to extend these benefits to this same group of illegal aliens… The Justice Department will continue to vigorously defend this position, and looks forward to vindicating its position in further litigation.”

The justice department is likely to appeal the decision to the 9th circuit court of appeals for future litigation. The ruling comes as President Donald Trump is embroiled in negotiations with democrats over the future of the Obama era protections for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

President Donald Trump told a bipartisan assembly of lawmakers Monday that a forthcoming fix on DACA “should be a bill of love. Truly. It should be a bill of love.” Trump did not elaborate on what exactly a “bill of love” would entail for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors.

Sanders told reporters Monday that the four priorities in any bill would be border security, chain migration, the visa lottery, and a permanent solution for DACA. The White House also did not specify whether a permanent solution for DACA meant a pathway to citizenship or simply codified work permits and protections for the DACA recipients.

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