LOCAL, NATIONAL REACTIONS TO TRUMP’S REPEAL OF DACA

By Miriam Raftery

September 6, 2017 (San Diego) -- After the Trump administration announced repeal of DACA,  the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across the nation to rally in support of protecting the dreamers, young people brought to the U.S. as children by undocumented parents.  Those young people now face deportation under President Trump’s executive order, unless Congress takes action within six months to protect them.

The rallies included an event in San Diego that drew a large crowd.  San Diegans are also speaking out on social media and in letters to the President.

Activist Martha Sullivan denounced, the President’s threat against 800,000 young people for whom America is home, including 68,000  living in hurricane-ravaged Houston, stating “This is not only the essence of bullying, it is sadism.”

San Diego State University’s student body president and other officers have sent a letter to President Trump urging him to retain the DACA program.

 The letter notes that SDSU is one of the most diverse universities in our nation, adding, “This diversity is critical to preparing our students to work in San Diego’s binational economy and a global workforce. Our students, regardless of their immigration status, are valued members of our educational community.”

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, issued a statement calling on Congress to protect the dreamers.

“We are not going to fix our immigration problems on the backs of innocent children,” the Mayor states, adding, “The young men and women here under DACA, many who are living in the only country they have ever known, are students, innovators, business owners, and veterans who enrich our country and contribute to our economy and our culture.”

In Hollywood, some celebrities are also speaking up for Dreamers, including Cher, who is of Mexican-American descent. Raised in poverty in the Imperial Valley, Cher went on to become a singing and acting superstar. Now she has tweeted that she is willing to open her own home to shelter young people facing deportation.

Similarly, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has said that his company employs 250 dreamers, adding that “Apple will fight for them to be tweeted as equals.”

The Trump administration has contended that the DACA program, created by President Barack Obama by executive order, was executive overreach.  Numerous states have sued, demanding that Trump overturn it. 

Republican Steve King, an Iowa Congress who supports DACA repeal, has stated, “The president does not have the authority to waive immigration law, nor does he have the authority to create it out of thin air.”

Trump promised his right-wing base on the campaign trail to repeal DACA, but later told a group of young dreamers that he would show compassion toward them – a statement that seems at odds with his executive actions this week.

President Obama has weighed in on that action, which he says was not required legally. “It’s a political decision, and a moral question,” the former President says. “Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn't threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us."

President Trump himself seemed to waffle again on the issue just one day after issuing his controversial executive order, tweeting, “"Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA--something the Obama Administration was unable to do. If they can't, I will revisit this issue!" he claimed.

Some analysts expect Republicans in Congress to use restoration of DACA protections as a wedge issue to leverage support from Democrats for other Republican priorities, such as tax reforms or funding the border wall. 

Other analysts suggest taking a hard line on deporting dreamers could cost the GOP key seats in California and perhaps other places with heavy Latino populations, potentially jeopardizing ultra-conservatives control of Congress.