WASHINGTON (CN) - Several moderate Republicans have written a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him not to do away with protections for children who have been brought into the United States illegally.
In the letter, which was made public on Thursday, representatives Dan Donovan of New York, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Ileana Ross Lehtinen of Washington, D.C., Carlos Curbelo of Florida, and Jeff Denham and David Valadao of California, ask the president to avoid rescinding the protections laid out in DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
At least until Congress is able to pass immigration reform.
“Children brought to the United States at a young age did not have a choice in the matter," they say. "Such cases require careful and thoughtful analysis about what is in the best interests of our country.”
Instead, the lawmakers encouraged the president to focus his efforts elsewhere.
“We strongly support your commitment to deporting those who have broken our laws and we believe the resources that might be directed towards targeting those with DACA status would be better spent on targeting criminals,” the letter said.
Lorella Praeli, director of immigration policy and campaigns at the American Civil Liberties Union, issued a statement Thursday responding to the administration’s possible shift away from the DACA program.
“We have 800,000 examples of why DACA strengthens America and why this program should stay in place,” she said. “DACA is successful, popular, constitutional and should stay on the books until Congress passes a clean legislative solution to address Dreamers’ status.”
Participants in the program are often referred to as Dreamers, a term originating from the 2010 Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.
The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Rep. Dick Durbin, D.-Ill., and Rep. Orrin Hatch, R.-Utah, died in the house but the nomenclature stuck. Dreamers are not just children. The term generally refers to any illegal aliens under the age of 35 seeking amnesty.
On Friday, a number of published reports said President Donald Trump appears likely to pull the plug on DACA.
Administration officials said the Department of Homeland Security sent a recommendation to the White House earlier this week on what to do, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions discussed the program with senior officials Thursday at the White House. Sessions has been a consistent opponent of the program, formally known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
But during her daily press briefing on Friday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders was circumspect on the issue. "The administration has indicated several times before that the DACA program is under review. It continues to be under review, and when we have an announcement on it, we’ll let you guys know," she said.
What is known is that the Trump administration faces two strongly opposed forces on amnesty.
One side is led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and nine other state attorneys general, as well as Idaho Gov. C.L. Otter.
Paxton and the others submitted a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in June, demanding the president rescind the program and cease issuing DACA permits by September 5 or prepare to defend it in court.