President Joe Biden is celebrating the 11th anniversary of former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that has allowed nearly 800,000 illegal aliens to evade arrest and deportation.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden commemorated the program by saying that the millions of illegal aliens enrolled and eligible for DACA “are Americans” despite their not having United States citizenship and flouting federal immigration law.
“Eleven years ago on this day, President Obama and I announced the DACA program to allow young people to live and work in the only country they’ve called home … DREAMers are Americans,” Biden said:
Many have spent the majority of their lives in the United States. They are our doctors, our teachers, and our small business owners. DREAMers strengthen our economy, enrich our workplaces, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, many served their communities on the frontlines. [Emphasis added]
As Breitbart News reported last year, standards for the DACA program were set so low by the Obama administration that from 2012 to 2018, about 53,792 illegal aliens were awarded DACA despite having prior arrest records. Meanwhile, nearly 8,000 illegal aliens awarded DACA were later arrested for crimes, the data shows.
More than 30 illegal aliens were given DACA status despite having previously been arrested for rape. Ten illegal aliens, likewise, were awarded DACA after having been arrested for murder, and 95 illegal aliens after having been arrested for kidnapping.
Biden noted that his administration is opening Affordable Care Act benefits, known as Obamacare and subsidized by American taxpayers, and Medicaid to DACA illegal aliens, even as Obama, in 2012, vowed that illegal aliens would not be eligible for Obamacare.
American taxpayers could be charged about $2.8 billion every year to provide Obamacare to every DACA illegal alien in the U.S. Biden said he hopes the move will push Congress to approve an amnesty for DACA illegal aliens.
“My administration is committed to providing DREAMers the opportunities and support they need to succeed,” Biden said. “… only Congress can provide permanent and lasting stability for these young people and their families. Congress must act to protect our DREAMers.”
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that the agency, under his leadership, will continue advocating on behalf of DACA illegal aliens.
“The Department of Homeland Security will continue to advocate on behalf of DACA recipients every day, in the courts and through our actions, until Congress provides an enduring solution,” Mayorkas said.
In February, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced an amnesty plan to give green cards, and eventually naturalized American citizenship, to the nearly two million illegal aliens enrolled and eligible for DACA.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.