By ANDREA LANNOM
The Register-Herald
Two of West Virginia’s congressional delegation praised a Tuesday decision from President Donald Trump’s administration to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Trump Tuesday ordered an end to the program, calling it an “amnesty-first approach” and urging Congress to replace it with legislation before it begins phasing out on March 5, 2018, the New York Times reported.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary, said Trump would support the legislation to protect young immigrants if Congress passes it as part of a broader immigration overhaul to strengthen the border, protect American jobs and enhance enforcement, according to the New York Times.
Jenkins said in his view, President Barack Obama overstepped his constitutional authority by creating the program.
“President Obama overstepped his constitutional authority by creating the DACA program through an executive order,” Jenkins said in the release. “We are a nation of laws and have a responsibility to secure our borders. I remain firmly opposed to amnesty and am committed to ensuring our nation’s immigration policies are constitutional and lawful.”
Capito said she felt the previous administration’s executive orders circumvented the legislative process.
“President Trump’s decision makes good on his promise to overturn the previous administration’s unconstitutional actions and provides Congress an opportunity to carefully consider potential changes to our immigration laws,” Capito said. “This is the way the democratic process is supposed to work, and it is how our country has always balanced rule of law with the ideals that make America so great.”
According to Pew Research, nearly 790,000 young, unauthorized immigrants received work permits and deportation relief through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, since it was created five years ago.
President Barack Obama signed an executive action in 2012 creating the program. It gives unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. before age 16 a chance to stay in the U.S. provided they meet certain criteria, according to an article from Pew Research.
Some of the criteria include being enrolled in high school, having a high school degree or GED equivalent and not having a serious criminal conviction, the article said. People who are approved are given a work permit and protection from deportation for two years, the Pew article said. They can renew their benefits.
According to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, for West Virginia, there were 117 initial requests, 200 renewals and 317 total approved to date, according to the data.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey also praised Trump’s decision.
“I applaud President Trump for having the courage of his convictions to uphold the rule of law and stop this Obama-era program,” Morrisey said in the statement. “DACA was unconstitutional and represented an unlawful, unilateral action by the Obama administration. Changes in law must be made through the legislative process. We will always stand up and defend the rule of law and our Constitution.”
His release said in light of the president’s announcement that West Virginia, coalition leader Texas and eight other states would no longer pursue litigation.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was joined by nine other state attorneys general including West Virginia, urging the Trump administration to phase out the program.
Patrick Morrisey
In their letter, Paxton and other states urged the secretary of Homeland Security to phase out the program by rescinding the 2012 DACA memorandum and ensuring no new DACA permits are issued and no existing permits are renewed in the future.
According to an earlier release from Paxton’s office, Paxton and the coalition vowed to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit challenging the deferred action programs pending in district court if the administration agreed by Tuesday to rescind the DACA program and not renew or issue any new permits in the future.
Email: [email protected]; follow on Twitter @AndreaLannom
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