Trump Latino Adviser: POTUS Wants to ‘Preserve’ Obama Exec Amnesty—‘DACA People Have Nothing to Worry About’

A member of President Donald Trump’s Hispanic Advisory Council recently revealed that Trump wants to preserve former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program for illegal immigrants.

Steve Cortes, an informal Trump adviser, made his remarks on the “In The Thick” podcast, which is produced by Maria Hinojosa’s Futuro Media Group.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to “terminate” Obama’s “executive illegal amnesties,” but Cortes said Trump’s policy preference is to “preserve DACA.”

Speaking at DePaul University, Cortes acknowledged that “a lot of his base was adamantly opposed to preserving it and keeping the status quo.” He added that DACA was “hotly debated” during the transition and up until Trump’s inauguration.

“The President came down on the side of we’re going to preserve DACA and has said explicitly that DACA people have nothing to worry about, that we are not targeting them for any deportation at all—unless they commit crimes,” he said.

“He has an enormous heart. He is the son of an immigrant,” Cortes said of Trump. “He’s married to an immigrant. He loves immigration. And he loves Hispanics.”

During the campaign, Trump promised to repeal DACA on the first day of his presidency. The program gives two-year work permits that can be renewed to illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and meet various requirements. Nearly 800,000 illegal immigrants have received temporary work permits since the program’s inception in 2012.

After taking office, Trump has said “we are gonna deal with DACA with heart,” adding that it is “a very, very difficult subject for me.”

“To me, it’s one of the most difficult subjects I have because you have these incredible kids — in many cases, not in all cases,” he also said in February. “In some of the cases, they’re having DACA and they’re gang members and they’re drug members, too. But you have some absolutely incredible kids — I would say mostly — they were brought in here in such a way. It’s a very, very tough subject.”