Gov. Inslee urges Trump to ‘abandon any efforts’ to end DACA protections
Jul 3, 2020, 10:44 AM | Updated: Jul 6, 2020, 8:37 am
Gov. Jay Inslee. (Gov. Jay Inslee, YouTube)
(Gov. Jay Inslee, YouTube)
A coalition of Washington state lawmakers led by Gov. Jay Inslee issued a letter to President Trump this week, urging him to end the fight against legal protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants across the United States.
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In mid-June, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge from the Trump administration that sought to end protections afforded by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program. DACA covers people who have been in the United States since they were children and are in the country illegally. In some cases, they have no memory of any home other than the United States.
The Supreme Court’s decision against the Trump administration was largely made on procedural grounds, leaving the door open for a future challenge. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said at the time of the ruling that “theoretically, it could still go on.”
“In other words, the Trump administration could try to fix the process problems they had in making this decision,” he noted.
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The letter from Inslee and dozens of other state lawmakers warns against “staggering costs to our economy and substantial injury to employers across our state” should those protections get rolled back. Roughly 16,000 young people in Washington are shielded by DACA.
“More importantly, it would carry a devastating human toll for the thousands of DACA recipients we represent,” the letter reads. “… We strongly encourage you to abandon any efforts to terminate a program that directly benefits thousands of Washingtonians who we are proud to serve. Instead, it is our fervent hope that you choose the path of empathy and reason by ensuring that these young people remain here at home, in America, where they belong.”
U.S. Senate Republicans have fought measures to give citizenship to DACA recipients in the wake of the court’s June decision.
