In the first oversight hearing focused on the White House’s decision to unwind deportation protections for Dreamers, a Department of Homeland Security official admitted that President Trump would like to see a pathway to citizenship for certain undocumented immigrants.
The testimony contradicts prior statements by the President about what should be done for individuals previously covered under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which terminates in fewer than six months.
Under questioning in the Senate Judiciary Committee from Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), Michael Dougherty, the Assistant Secretary of Border Immigration and Trade Policy, laid out what the administration would like congress to do for DACA recipients.
“Under a rational bill these individuals would be able to become lawful permanent residents with a pathway to citizenship,” Dougherty said.
“So the president believes they should be allowed to stay,” Sen. Kennedy responded.
“The President, yes, would like to work with congress to get a solution,” Dougherty answered. He added that he didn’t have any details on what sort of conditions individuals would have to satisfy before having access to citizenship.
The nickname “Dreamers” refers to undocumented individuals who were brought to the US at a young age, and now work, study, or serve in the military, and haven’t committed any serious crimes.
Polls show that an overwhelming majority of the public supports allowing Dreamers to stay in the US under protections provided by DACA.
When President Trump ended the program in September, he, too, claimed to support the Dreamer community calling on congress to pass a legislative fix to replace DACA. But whether or not the President actually believes in providing Dreamers a pathway to citizenship has been unclear.
According to a CNN report in February, President Trump told a small group of journalists that he would “perhaps” support citizenship for Dreamers.
Following a highly-publicized meeting with the President in September, Democratic leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) claimed that Trump had agreed to support already-existing legislation that grants certain Dreamers a pathway to citizenship.
Talking to reporters in September, however, Trump said citizenship would not be part of a DACA legislative fix.
“We’re not looking at citizenship,” he said. “We’re not looking at amnesty,”
Tuesday’s hearing also featured sharp criticism against Attorney General Jeff Sessions who made several dubious claims last month while announcing the end of DACA, including an assertion that the program put the country at risk of crime violence and terrorism.
“Can you provide this committee with any examples of Dreamers who’ve been involved in terrorist activities,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) asked DOJ Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler.
“You don’t have to give me hundreds, just give me one, one, one!” Leahy said, his voice growing louder.
“I’m not aware of any examples,” Readler responded.
“Neither is the Attorney General when he said that,” Leahy shot back, “I can guarantee that.”
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy