Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wants to protect illegal immigrants of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program if President Trump gives lawmakers time for finding a “legislative solution” before ending the program.
“If President Trump chooses to cancel the DACA program and gives Congress six months to find a legislative solution, I will be supportive of such a position,” Graham said in a statement Monday.
“I have always believed DACA was a presidential overreach. However, I equally understand the plight of the Dream Act kids who – for all practical purposes – know no other country than America.”
The legislative solution Graham is referring to is nothing short of amnesty, as Graham and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill) have already introduced legislation to legalize DACA’s approximately 800,000 recipients.
The Trump administration announced the ending of DACA on Tuesday, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling the protections an “unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch.”
The Department of Homeland Security will immediately stop accepting DACA applications, but those already under the program won’t be affected until March 5 of next year.
Although the media would have you believe that the whole country is up in arms over Trump’s decision to end the program, nearly 10 states have formed a coalition threatening to sue the federal government if the Trump administration didn’t stop DACA.
“We respectfully request that the Secretary of Homeland Security phase out the DACA program,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the coalition wrote in a letter to Sessions in June.
“Just like DAPA, DACA unilaterally confers eligibility for work authorization and lawful presence without any statutory authorization from Congress.”
Like Speaker Paul Ryan, Graham is another high-profile Republican to come out in support of the corporate-enriching DACA, which enables major corporations to hire illegal or foreign workers at a cheaper rate than American workers, and prevents nearly 700,000 American jobs from opening up to citizens.
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