Since President Trump’s reversal on an Obama-created temporary amnesty program and his reported permanent amnesty deal-making with Democrats on the issue, the administration is now touting the success of those illegal aliens.
Via Twitter, Trump praised the almost 800,000 illegal alien recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, saying they are “good, educated and accomplished young people,” but failing to mention some of the key points on the issue that he often brought to light during the 2016 presidential election.
Now, Trump seems to be buying into a handful of untruths about DACA, amnesty for illegal aliens and his working-class, middle-class voter base.
1. All DACA recipients are innocent young people
There have been 2,139 DACA recipients, deemed “DREAMers” by the open borders lobby, who have had their temporary protected status revoked due to crimes, including: “A felony criminal conviction; a significant misdemeanor conviction; multiple misdemeanor convictions; gang affiliation; or arrest of any crime in which there is deemed to be a public safety concern,” according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency, as Breitbart News reported.
The majority of crimes by DACA recipients include: “Alien smuggling, assaultive offenses, domestic violence, drug offenses, DUI, larceny and thefts, criminal trespass and burglary, sexual offenses with minors, other sex offenses and weapons offenses,” USCIS has stated.
2. Signing the DREAM Act will make Trump more popular and expand his coalition
A possible untruth being told to Trump by his pro-DACA advisers is that Hispanic illegal aliens protected by DACA will eventually become supporters of the President’s if they are given amnesty. But, as Pew Research has shown, Hispanics vote overwhelmingly with Democrats.
More than 30 percent of Hispanics “identify” with the Democratic Party and another 23 percent said they “lean towards” the Democrats. Meanwhile, a tiny four percent said they identify with Republicans, and only 15 percent said they lean towards the GOP.
3. The Trump base will forget about an amnesty
There seems to be a misconception that the Trump base of supporters will simply move on from an amnesty for DACA recipients. This seems incredibly unlikely, as Pew Research shows 79 percent of Trump supporters have said the issue is “very important” to them.
Bloomberg reporter Sahil Kapur pointed out after Trump’s initial caving on DACA that there was an immediate flaw in the President’s strategy, as immigration remains a key tenant to supporters of the “America First” agenda.
Additionally, the least likely of the Trump base to forget about an amnesty deal would be the “Angel Moms'”and “Angel Dads” who have had their children killed by illegal aliens and DACA recipients.
Maureen Laquerre, whose brother was murderd by an illegal alien, told Breitbart News:
If Trump’s trying to make a deal he needs to sit down and talk to us about it because he more than once looked us in the eye and told us that our family members didn’t die in vain. The DACA children aren’t children anymore and they’ve had enough time to work on getting citizenship if that’s what they really wanted. I’m not into let’s make a deal, this isn’t a game show here.
4. Legalizing DACA is not amnesty
In statements today, Trump suggested that allowing DACA recipients to remain in the U.S. was not amnesty, as Breitbart News reported.
“We’re looking at allowing people to stay here,” Trump said. “We’re not looking at citizenship, we’re not looking at amnesty.”
5. DACA recipients are not taking U.S. jobs away from Americans
As a study by the pro-immigration group FWD.us revealed, an amnesty to DACA recipients would mean the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants currently holding jobs in the U.S. would be able to remain at those jobs, rather than those opportunities potentially opening up for American workers.
An ultimate end to the DACA program has the potential to open nearly 720,000 U.S. jobs for Americans, with the potential of more jobs in the future.
6. DACA recipients are highly-educated
Though DACA has been touted by Trump as being a program for highly-educated illegal aliens, research by the Migration Policy Institute shows this is not the case and that a minority of DACA recipients have college degrees:
For example, one-third of the people in the study sample who are older than age 25 hold four-year college bachelors’ degrees or better. In contrast, an August 2013 report by the pro-amnesty Migration Policy Institute showed that only 7.5 percent of the 800,000 DACA-qualified illegals who were 18 or older had four-year college degrees or better. An August 2017 study by the MPI showed only 5 percent of 832,000 DACA illegals who were older than 18 had four-year college qualifications.
7. DACA recipients are not looking to take advantage of the immigration system
Though Trump now appears supportive of DACA, he has yet to address the concerns regarding thousands of DACA recipients who have schemed and used an advanced parole program loophole, allowing them to obtain Green Cards and U.S. citizenship.
Recent USCIS data revealed:
- 45,447 DACA recipients have been approved for advance parole
- 59,778 DACA recipients have applied for Lawful Permanent Resident, known as a “Green Card”
- 39,514 DACA recipients have been approved for a Green Card
- Of the DACA recipients with Green Cards, 2,181 have applied for U.S. citizenship
- Of the DACA recipients with Green Cards, 1,056 have become U.S. citizens
8. Amnesty for DACA recipients will have no impact on illegal and legal immigration
Pro-American immigration reformers have told Breitbart News that an amnesty could lead to massive surges of illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as surges in legal immigration, as DACA recipients become eligible to bring their foreign relatives to the U.S.
For example, when former President Obama enacted DACA, U.S. Border Patrol saw an unprecedented surge of illegal alien children and families, as the Migration Policy Institute documented in 2014:
The phenomenon of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, typically after an arduous and often dangerous journey through Central America and Mexico, has reached a crisis proportion, with a 90 percent spike in arrivals from last year and predictions of future increases ahead. While the immediate humanitarian situation has galvanized the attention of the Obama administration, policymakers, and the country at large, it is painfully clear that there are no simple solutions, whether in the short or medium term, to address the complex set of push and pull factors driving the rise in arrivals of unaccompanied alien children (UACs).
9. Amnesty will lead to pro-American immigration reforms
There is the possibility that the Trump administration believes that leading with an amnesty for illegal aliens could eventually lead to successful, pro-American immigration reforms that the President promised to enact.
But, as Rep. Steve King (R-IA) pointed out in a single tweet, history shows amnesty is not a winner in the long run for immigration policy in the national interest.
In fact, the very opposite is likely to happen if Trump signs an amnesty bill for illegal aliens. The open borders lobby and corporate interests are likely to push a full-fledged amnesty for all 12 to 30 million illegal aliens in the U.S. should Trump sign a DACA amnesty.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.