DACA debate turns toward Congress as Trump readies decision

The debate over how to handle the hundreds of thousands of immigrants shielded from deportation by an Obama-era program appears to be shifting to Congress.

President Trump is expected to announce Tuesday his decision on scrapping the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which started in 2012.

Trump is reportedly eyeing ending the program but including a six-month delay, allowing lawmakers an opportunity to help the thousands of impacted immigrants.

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Under DACA, immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as minors have been able to get work permits and receive temporary deferral from deportation.

The expected end to DACA has prompted bipartisan calls from lawmakers for Congress to act to help the roughly 800,000 immigrants who have benefited from the program.

Many Republicans have said it’s the responsibility of Congress to do something, even as they maintain that the Obama administration didn’t have the authority to create DACA in the first place.

Tuesday’s expected announcement would up the stakes for Congress to act.

“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 country other than America,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement Monday.

“If President Trump makes this decision we will work to find a legislative solution to their dilemma,” added Graham, who introduced legislation with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in July that would provide legal status and a path to citizenship for DACA recipients.

Prior to reports Sunday on the expected contents of Trump’s DACA decision, several high-profile GOP lawmakers urged Trump to keep protections for the recipients in place and also expressed an interest in Congress passing legislation on the topic.

“I actually don’t think he should do that and I believe that this is something Congress has to fix,” Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told WCLO Janesville on Friday.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who in 2001 co-sponsored the DREAM Act, legislation that would have provided many of the same protections as DACA, also said in a statement that he had “urged the President not to rescind DACA, an action that would further complicate a system in serious need of a permanent, legislative solution.”

Other Republicans weighed in on the need for legislation after Politico reported that Trump was expected to terminate DACA with a six-month delay.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told a Dallas Morning News reporter on Monday that the six-month delay gives Congress an opportunity to pass legislation.

McCarthy added that he thinks the House could codify some of the protections for immigrants in DACA as part of a broader package that could also include border-security provisions, according to the reporter.

Some GOP lawmakers said that while Congress takes action to help those brought to the U.S. illegally as children, it should also take steps to enforce immigration laws and curb illegal immigration.

“It is right for there to be consequences for those who intentionally entered this country illegally,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said in a statement Monday. “However, we as Americans do not hold children legally accountable for the actions of their parents.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told the Washington Examiner on Sunday that he would like to allow DACA recipients to get green cards but that he also wants Congress to prevent that action from encouraging more illegal immigration and creating a new group of people who could come to the U.S. legally because they are extended relatives of the DACA recipients.

“We should find a way to give [DACA recipients] legal status,” Cotton told the Examiner, “but we also have to mitigate the inevitable consequences of that action.”

Pairing protections for DACA recipients with new immigration enforcement measures could turn off Democrats, who have ardently opposed Trump’s moves on immigration.

Legislation will need the support of at least eight Democratic senators to clear the upper chamber. Democrats have pressed Republicans to work with them on legislation if Trump does cancel DACA.

“House Republicans must join Democrats to pass legislation to safeguard our young DREAMers from the senseless cruelty of deportation and shield families from separation and heartbreak,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement Monday, using a term commonly used to refer to DACA recipients.

“Dear Republicans, your moment has come. Every Democrat will join you,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted. “Show the courage and grace to save these children, and our nation.”