DREAM Act Portal Forum - Immigration hawks pressure Trump on campaign promise

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Trump on Wednesday signed two executive actions on immigration, but neither addressed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program started under President Barack Obama for people brought to the United States illegally as children.

The Trump administration remains mum on its plans for the program, which reportedly is still accepting new enrollees.

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They shouldn’t be very worried, I do have a big heart. We’re going to take care of everybody, we’re going to have a very strong border, we’re going to have a very solid border,” Trump told ABC's David Muir. “You have great people that are here that have done a good job, they should be far less worried.”

In Congress, meanwhile, there is support in both parties for allowing people brought to the U.S. as children to stay.

During a press briefing Wednesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that Trump’s new immigration orders don’t “specifically deal” with DACA. He said that Trump and his team would reach a deal with the program in a “humane way.”

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While the email said the group would give Trump the benefit of the doubt, “it has become clear the last two days that Pres. Trump will not end the renewals and issuance of DACA work permits ‘immediately’ as he stated repeatedly in the campaign.”

Krikorian said he hasn’t heard back from the White House about the status of DACA, but said it’s possible that the administration might be holding out for more leverage in a future negotiation with Congress.

He framed the delay as a possible victory by the more establishment voices in Trump’s White House, represented by chief of staff Reince Priebus, over the more populist ones, embodied by chief strategist Stephen Bannon.

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But other Trump supporters say they are heartened by the immigration actions he has taken so far.

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter pointed to the text of one of Trump’s Wednesday orders, which directs executive branch agents to “detain individuals apprehended on suspicion of violating federal or state law, including federal immigration law.”

“I don’t see how this doesn’t fully contravene DACA,” she said.

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And James Carafano, the Heritage Foundation’s vice president who ran the Department of Homeland Security transition team for Trump but has not spoken to the White House about the issue since the inauguration, told The Hill that Wednesday’s actions are a signal that the White House is prioritizing the issue.

“Today came, for us who would like to see delivery on this, as something to be excited about … that we are going to enforce the law,” he said.

But he added that “we are all asking the same question, which is what’s he going to do about [DACA]?”

http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...mpaign-promise