LINCOLN — A group of state senators wants Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson to back away from an effort to end temporary legal status for immigrants brought to the country unlawfully as children.
Twenty of the 49 members of the Nebraska Legislature signed a letter expressing disappointment over Peterson’s decision to join nine other Republican attorneys general in calling for an end to the federal program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Late last month, Peterson co-signed a letter asking the Trump Administration to phase out the DACA program.
“Ending DACA ... would be devastating to a group of young people who have called Nebraska home their entire lives,” said the letter written by State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha. “The Nebraska Legislature has a long and proud history of standing by our young Nebraska immigrants.”
The program, launched in 2012 by former President Barack Obama, grants two-year renewable work permits to applicants who meet guidelines that include having no serious criminal backgrounds. The program has allowed about 3,300 people in Nebraska and more than 700,000 nationally to work or attend school without fear of deportation, according to the federal government.
Although he railed against DACA on the campaign trail, President Donald Trump has not rescinded Obama’s executive order and has expressed sympathy for the predicament of those in violation of the law through no fault of their own.
In May, the Legislature voted 24-1 in favor of a nonbinding resolution expressing support for the program, with 17 lawmakers opting to abstain. In recent years, senators overrode vetoes by Gov. Pete Ricketts of bills allowing DACA recipients to obtain driver’s licenses and state credentials to pursue professional and trade careers.
Peterson’s office did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.
He has recently said that on a personal level, it’s a difficult issue. But he called it his duty “to uphold the Constitution, not to pick winners and losers with regard to policy.”
Nebraska also was among 27 states that joined a successful legal challenge of Obama’s 2014 expansion of DACA and the creation of a broader program to provide legal work status to the parents of DACA recipients.
Along with Vargas, other Omaha-area senators to sign the letter to the attorney general were Ernie Chambers, Burke Harr, Sara Howard, Rick Kolowski, Bob Krist, John McCollister, Mike McDonnell, Justin Wayne, Sue Crawford and Carol Blood. Others who signed are Adam Morfeld, Roy Baker, Kate Bolz, Matt Hansen, Patty Pansing Brooks and Anna Wishart, all of Lincoln; Dan Quick of Grand Island; Laura Ebke of Crete; and Matt Williams of Gothenburg.
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