Trump Keeps Promise – Withdraws DAPA Amnesty

(June 16, 2017 - Washington, D.C.) — The following statement was issued in response to the termination of deferred action for illegal alien parents – also known as DAPA – by the Department of Homeland Security. The statement should be attributed to Dan Stein, president, Federation for American Immigration Reform.

“We commend the Trump administration for following through on its promise to formally end DAPA, President Obama’s illegal and unconstitutional attempt to grant several million illegal alien parents a de facto executive amnesty and work authorization. DAPA was declared unconstitutional by the courts after it was challenged by 26 states.

“Yesterday’s action by the administration also acknowledges that granting de facto amnesty to millions of people who knowingly violated U.S. immigration laws is also bad public policy that harms the interests of the American people and encourages more illegal immigration. Many working class Americans voted for President Trump because of his promise to combat illegal immigration and secure U.S. jobs for American workers. They are the major beneficiaries of this action.

“Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), granted to more than 780,000 illegal aliens who arrived in the U.S. as minors, was a similar example of an executive overreach that was based on the same flawed legal principle. Clearly, DACA raises the same legal questions that ultimately resulted in the termination of DAPA. This calls into question the legitimacy of DACA as well.”