Trump’s DACA, Border Security Plan is a ‘Ransom Note,’ Says Amnesty Group

HOUSTON, Texas — A Texas-based amnesty group called the plan by President Donald Trump to tie border security and immigration enforcement to a congressional bill to replace the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program a “ransom note.” The group demands a clean bill issuing amnesty to approximately 800,000 of the so-called “DREAMers.”

“Immigrant youth will not be held hostage by the racist mass deportation wishlist of the White House,” United We Dream’s Executive Director Julieta Garibay said in a statement provided to Breitbart Texas. “The consequences of their anti-immigrant agenda would have inhumane and immoral consequences for Texas, especially those living along the border.”

“Last week, immigrant youth across Texas and in DC took action at the offices of members of Congress because our lives are at stake,” Garibay continued. “Reps Will Hurd, John Culberson, Pete Sessions and Bill Flores must co-sponsor the Dream Act of 2017 and commit to pass it by December. Republicans created this for themselves when Trump rescinded the DACA program, and it is morally corrupt to coerce immigrant youth into taking Sessions’ wish list in exchange for the Dream Act. Members of Congress, you will continue to see us. Our movement will not waver, and our demands are clear: We demand a clean Dream Act now.”

Her argument dodges the point that former President Barack Obama created the amnesty program without congressional authorization. A threatened lawsuit from Texas and nine other states would have likely resulted in the program being declared unconstitutional in the same lawsuit that blocked Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA).

President Trump released a detailed plan to tie border security and increased immigration enforcement to any bill created by Congress to replace Obama’s DACA program. Two provisions of the plan would streamline the process of returning unaccompanied minors who are crossing the border illegally in substantial numbers.

The proposal from the president also includes money for the long-promised border wall, funds to hire 300 additional immigration judges, 1,000 additional attorneys to process removals, and 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and officers.

Another key element of the president’s plan is to expedite the deportation process for those illegal immigrants who are arrested and being held pending removal orders. Immigration courts currently are facing a backlog of 600,000 cases. This prevents the quick removal of illegal border crossers, the White House wrote in proposal documents obtained by Breitbart Texas. “It takes an average of 682 days to complete a single immigration case,” officials wrote.

Trump also calls for expanding the expedited removal process to enable Border Patrol agents and ICE officers to quickly deport illegal border crossers who meet certain guidelines.

“Anything that is done addressing the status of DACA recipients needs to include these three reforms and solve these three problems,” a senior White House official told The Washington Times. “If you don’t solve these problems then you’re not going to have a secure border, you’re not going to have a lawful immigration system and you’re not going to be able to protect American workers.”

Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel for the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), told Breitbart Texas, “These proposals are long overdue and address the concerns of a majority of Americans. For too long, our immigration system has been wide open to fraud and manipulation, and this would help restore integrity to our immigration process.”

DACA recipient Allyson Duarte said in a written statement provided to Breitbart Texas, “As conservative Washington politicians engage in political maneuvers, effectively risking the lives of millions of immigrants across the country, those of us who reside in the border know that the billions the administration wishes to spend reinforcing the border by bringing more immigration agents into our region will breed further hostility and insecurity within our communities.”

“In Texas, Republicans have pushed through bills like SB 4, a kind of ‘show me your papers’ measure that can not only turn an insignificant traffic stop into an immigration interrogation and potential deportation on any given setting, but that can also lead to racial profiling through the, perhaps unconscious, selective targeting of people of color by police and other law enforcement agencies,” the McAllen DREAMer continued. “By adopting these measures, the Trump administration and Governor Greg Abbott seem to want to turn Texas into a war zone with what appear as direct attacks against people of color in the state, which only strains the relationship between border communities and law enforcement, leaving potential instances of rape, wage theft, and other human rights violations at the hands of private persons and state agents without resolve.”

The SB 4 law referenced by Duarte is a new law that requires law enforcement agencies to honor immigration detainers issued by ICE to city and county jails. It also reaffirms a police officer’s right to inquire about the immigration status of persons legally detained by officers whom they have reasonable suspicions are illegally present in the U.S.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law on May 7, making the state the strongest in the nation at combating sanctuary cities.

“The so-called controversial part of this law is what some label as the ‘show your papers’ component,” the Texas governor explained in an exclusive interview with Breitbart Texas immediately after signing the bill into law. “And what everyone seems to get wrong is they think that that provision was stricken down in the Arizona law. To the contrary, the provision in the Arizona law is stricter than the Texas law. The Arizona law required that law enforcement ASK for papers. The Texas law does not require it, it allows it so there is that one difference.”

“But despite that difference, the Arizona law was upheld by every U.S. Supreme Court justice, including the liberals,” he said emphatically. “The so-called controversial part of this law has been ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court and upheld,” the governor emphasized.

Texas’ new law, which mostly went into effect on September 1, stands in sharp contrast to the new Sanctuary State bill passed by the California Assembly and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. That law prohibits law enforcement officers from inquiring about anyone’s immigration status and forbids jails from turning over criminal aliens to ICE officers.

ICE acting-Director Thomas Homan quickly responded to the rebellious action of the State of California by promising to increase direct enforcement actions in homes and businesses in that state.

“ICE will have no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community,” Homan wrote in a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “ICE will also likely have to detain individuals arrested in California in detention facilities outside of the state, far from any family they may have in California.”

IRLI’s Dale Wilcox responded to the issue of sanctuary policies, stating, “The entire concept of sanctuary cities runs contrary to the rule of law and the government’s primary obligation—to protect its citizens. The federal government is entirely within its authority to use reasonable measures that promote compliance with this imperative.”

President Trump made his intentions of not allowing an amnesty program for the children brought illegally to the U.S. by their illegal alien parents without securing additional border security and enforcement capabilities in the same bill.