DACA Recipient Praises Trump, Claims Democrats Using ‘Dreamers’ As Pawns [Video]

A DACA recipient who lauded Barack Obama’s executive order for giving him and other so-called Dreamers who were brought into the country by illegal immigrant parents a chance at the America dream is praising President Donald Trump for his leadership in connection with the program that expires on March 5 unless Congress acts.

The above-referenced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program created by a 2012 Obama executive order postponed deportation for approximately 800,000 undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. before age 16 and prior to June 2007 and granted them work permits renewable on a two-year basis. Most of the so-called Dreamers are now said to be in the mid-20s age range.

The federal government stopped processing DACA applications following Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement on September 5, 2017, that the program was coming to a close subject to legislation being brought forth in Congress to resolve the Dreamers’ immigration status. The Dreamer terminology evolved from the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act that never passed Congress and which prompted former President Obama to invoke an executive action.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had previously ruled that DACA was inconsistent with the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution.

In attempting to forge a DACA compromise with Democrats on Capitol Hill, Trump has said he will sign a law granting a pathway to citizenship to 1.8 million illegal aliens (which is more than double the estimated number of DACA beneficiaries) in exchange for full funding of the border wall, an end to chain migration (which essentially allows unlimited numbers of relatives to enter the country permanently), and abolishing the visa lottery system. The president also wants to move to a skills-based immigration system, similar to what is in effect in Australia.

So far, the Democrats have rejected his overtures as inadequate, which, in part, led to two brief government shutdowns. The Republicans lack enough seats in Congress to pass legislation on their own, other than through a limited parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation, which would not apply in the Dreamer matter. A massive bipartisan spending bill did pass Congress on Friday and was signed by the president, which should avert another shutdown for two years.

Any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time. March 5th is rapidly approaching and the Dems seem not to care about DACA. Make a deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2018

In an appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend, University of Houston graduate Hilario Yanez, who now works as a technology analyst with Accenture Technology, weighed in on the DACA debate, the Daily Caller reported.

“Let me begin by first thanking Donald Trump for his leadership, his compassion, and also the courage to take on this issue…Here’s a guy who wants to provide a pathway to citizenship for myself and really make a difference in my life…Also, I believe we need to have border security so this doesn’t happen again…And if a wall is necessary to add an extra layer for border patrol to do their job in a safe and responsible manner, then, you know, I think it’s necessary to fund it…The diversity lottery — I think it’s outdated; I think it’s time for people who want to come to the United States to focus on skills so they can contribute to the American economy right away.”

Yanez then drew a contrast between Trump and the actions of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her Senate counterpart Chuck Schumer, who have positioned themselves as DACA advocates.

“The Democratic leadership, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, really have no clear message. We have been confused; I think at the end of the day they have been using us as pawns…they never should have shut down the government over DACA. We should have never held our American people and our military hostage…”

He added that Democrats controlled all three branches of the federal government for several years during the Obama administration but didn’t address the DACA issue.

Parenthetically, in his State of the Union speech, Trump remarked that American citizens are dreamers too.

Several years ago, Hilario Yanez thanked then-President Obama in the New York Times for the “window of opportunity to live the American dream.” As a footnote to history, Obama repeatedly insisted that he lacked the constitutional authority to enact any form of amnesty for illegal aliens without permission of Congress. Under Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress — not the Executive branch — is empowered to establish laws relating to immigration. There have also been allegations that Obama administration officials rubber-stamped DACA applications without conducting background checks that would generally be standard in immigration screening.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said today that the Trump administration budget to be released tomorrow will include $3 billion for the security wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, which was one of the president’s key campaign promises, as well as “a contingency for $25 billion over two years if Congress approves legislation to shield ‘Dreamers’…from deportation,” the New York Post reported.

In the clip below, watch DACA recipient Hilario Yanez discuss Donald Trump’s compromise proposal to resolve the immigration status of Dreamers in the U.S. and draw your own conclusions.

https://youtu.be/Dxpshfjbc3A