Trump on DREAMers: “I simply love those people.” AP PHOTO
Leave it to the anti-politician leading America to throw 800,000 DREAMers, many Filipinos included, into a state of limbo.
When it comes to DACA, Donald Trump is simply searching for what is best for Donald Trump.
Not what’s best for you the undocumented. Or American society. Not even for what’s best for the politicians of any identifiable party.
Donald Trump did what was best for him—he absolved himself of blame for DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program, which is probably its biggest fault.
Trump made up some excuses like calling it unconstitutional (which is not true). And then stuck it to his maligned attorney general to announce the end of the program; and now Trump is sticking it to the do-nothing Republican led Congress to come up with a solution if they want.
For Trump it was a cleansing of blame. Typical of a delegating boss with no vision or talent for leadership.
Faced with a September 5 deadline before 10 attorneys general were going to make Trump defend an Obama policy in court, Trump just couldn’t tell Sessions to defend it.
I mean Trump is King Birther who falsely claimed Obama wasn’t born in America and demanded to see a birth certificate. Trump is the man who falsely claimed recently that Obama tapped Trump Tower, which an official government investigation proved false. Trump is the guy who wanted to repeal and replace Obamacare (and failed).
Trump would never defend Obama’s DACA, no matter how much Trump claimed he “loved” the DREAMers, the term used to describe DACA recipients.
So that’s why the immigrant community is in chaos. Trump’s ego is in the way.
So if you are a DACA recipient, here’s your status. If your papers are current, you are good till expiration.
If you didn’t apply, there will be no new applications taken.
If you applied before September 5 and are in the process, you will be given a permit.
If you are current and set to expire between September 5 and March 5, you will be allowed to renew.
But you must renew by October 5, and applications are $495.
If you expire after March 6 of next year, there is no ability to renew.
This is information direct from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), which still suggest you contact an attorney for consultation.
If you had advance parole to visit your place of birth, say the Philippines, you can still do so.
But any new applications for advanced parole are over.
This is all due to Donald Trump’s actions this week.
Already there are lawsuits on behalf of individuals and 15 states’ attorneys general to stop the Trump changes citing violations of the Administrative Procedures Act, which guards from capricious changes in public law, which fairly describes Trump’s DACA move which was done without good reason.
But the attorney generals’ lawsuit in favor of DACA sites the equal protection clause and due process.
The suit is spearheaded by Robert Ferguson, the Washington State AG who successfully blocked the Trump travel ban. The DACA dump is no slam dunk for Trump or for Congress.
The Dems in Congress immediately called for a floor vote on the DREAM ACT to force the issue and make DACA law, with a pathway to citizenship.
Meanwhile Trump continues to send different messages to Congress. In an effort to get Harvey relief to Texas, he agreed with Democrats to lift the debt ceiling in a move that angered his fellow Republicans.
Remember he needs the majority for most everything he wants done.
Just to add more uncertainty, after his disruptive end to DACA, he said if Congress doesn’t act, he’d revisit it in 6 months.
Hmm. Now it’s coming clear.
Here’s my prediction:
Trump is already being inundated by data showing the cost to GDP if DACA recipients were taken out of the US economy. Moody’s Chief Economist put the cost at $105 billion. Gulp. Add more data like the study that shows the t 800,000 DACA recipients represent a highly educated, and upwardly mobile group whose average earnings among those 25 years old and up is $41,621, nearly P2 million, according to a study by Prof. Tom Wong of UC Santa Barbara. Add to that the business leaders from Fortune 500 companies. Wong’s survey said 72 percent of DACA recipients were employed by the top 25 of America’s top companies.
What’s a businessman cum politician like Trump to do?
In six months, no matter what Congress does, he’ll rebrand DACA.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Try “Trump’s Action for Childhood Arrivals.”
From DACA to TACA.
Oh, the love pouring from his orange head.
It will be a beautiful thing?
But it won’t be an Obama thing, and that seems to be the main hold up. It will be a Trump thing.
He loves the DREAMers, remember? That’s my prediction. And it makes as good a sense as any possible scenario. If dumping the DREAMERs is a bad thing, he will jump on the bandwagon and act like he was their biggest fan all along.
In fact, I’d say it’s not too tacky to start calling DACA by its eventual name, TACA.
I can even see Trump’s tweet now: #winning.
Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist and commentator, and a former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.” https://www.twitter.com/emilamok
