President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that Congress be ready to justify legal status for the roughly 800,000 illegal immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program.
“Congress, get ready to do your job – DACA!” Trump tweeted. The tweet came a few hours before Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to announce the end of the DACA program that President Barack Obama started to protect illegal immigrants who arrived as minors.
The Trump administration will reportedly use a six-month delay to phase out DACA in order to give Congress a chance to pass a legislative fix. The Daily Caller reported Monday that the delay has immigration hawks worried that legislative amnesty will pass. “Ending DACA now gives chance 2 restore Rule of Law. Delaying so [Republican] Leadership can push Amnesty is Republican suicide,” Republican Iowa Rep. Steve King tweeted Sunday. (RELATED: Immigration Hawks Worry Congress Will Pass Amnesty To Save ‘Dreamers’)
Already many GOP lawmakers including Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton have said they support protecting DACA beneficiaries. A solution could be a combination between the RAISE Act that drastically lowers legal immigration and legal status for the so-called dreamers.
The Republican-held Congress has yet to pass an Obamacare-repeal bill or tax reform.