Former Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor openly called for full citizenship for anyone under the Obama administration’s DACA program Sunday.
“It is well past time for Republicans to stand up to those on the right who are quick to denounce any sensible solution as amnesty and for Democrats to stand up to those on the left who rail against any meaningful steps toward border security and immigration enforcement,” Cantor wrote in a New York Times op-ed Sunday.
The DACA program was started by President Obama in 2012 and protects roughly 800,000 illegal immigrants who arrived as minors from deportation.
Cantor appeared to acknowledge the fact that President Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election on a platform that strongly supported increased border security, but argued that granting full citizenship to those under the controversial immigration order isn’t a mutually exclusive goal.
“Only Congress can fix this mess. It should do so by providing a path for law-abiding Dreamers to obtain a green card and ultimately, full citizenship. In exchange for a much-improved program for Dreamers, Congress should significantly increase America’s border security by funding additional personnel, technology and physical resources at our border,” he wrote.
The president rescinded the executive order signed into action during Obama’s tenure but made public moves that suggested he supported the measure, despite the hard stance he took on the issue during the campaign.
Trump met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi about a potential bipartisan deal last week. Trump also tweeted about the issue, comforting those who are uncertain about their legal status in a post-DACA America.
Cantor used the title “How to End the Immigration Wars” for his op-ed, wording that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush used for his pre-2016 run book, “Immigration Wars.”
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