They will try to prevent their deportation in Congress
They will try to prevent their deportation in Congress
Washington - Congressional Republicans are working with President-elect Donald Trump's transition team on a solution for immigrants who were brought to the United States without permission when they were children, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday.
Hundreds of thousands of these immigrants obtained temporary protections and work permits from President Barack Obama. While campaigning to reach the White House, Trump promised to revert these protections, which puts immigrants at risk of being deported, although last month he said he hoped to "develop something" to help them.
Ryan did not provide details on what Congress and Trump would do about the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). But in a question-and-answer session organized by CNN, a woman - who identified herself as a DACA beneficiary with a small child - asked him about it and Ryan replied that he didn't want her to be deported.
"Puedo ver que usted ama a su hija, usted es una persona agradable que tiene un gran futuro por delante, y espero que su futuro sea aquí", afirmó el legislador. "What we have to do is find a way to ensure that you can put your affairs in order according to the law, and we have to do it in a good way so that you don't suddenly lose support and your family is separated".
Driver Jake Tapper noted that Trump, during the campaign, promised that there would be a "deportation force" to capture the more than 11 million immigrants who are in the country without permission. Ryan rejected this idea.
"I am here to tell you that this is not happening in Congress," he said.
Instead, Ryan said that Trump has asked legislators to focus on two priorities in relation to unauthorized immigration: securing the border and deporting immigrants who are violent and repeat offenders.
Republican legislators in the House of Representatives and their aides have also said recently that they are working to find out how to pay for border security in order to fulfill Trump's promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico, although at first taxpayers would pay the bill, not Mexicans, as promised by the president-elect.
DACA has extended work permits and temporary relief from deportation to more than 700,000 immigrants who were brought to the United States without permission when they were children since it was created in 2012. Trump has said that this measure and other Obama executive actions are unconstitutional, since they were not passed by Congress, a position that Ryan repeated on Wednesday.
DACA permits need to be renewed every two years, so Trump could cancel the program later by ordering agencies to stop processing new applications and renewals. Immigrant communities are very worried about what he will do in this regard.
"We have to figure out how to have a humanitarian solution to this sincere and very legitimate problem, and respect the rule of law," Ryan said.
Source: The New Day
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