President Trump on Wednesday called on the Supreme Court to cancel the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program in favor of a congressional solution that would “actually benefit” the young immigrants in the program.
The high court is slated to consider in November the administration’s bid to shut down the program, which gave protected status to some younger migrants who were brought to this country as minors without documentation.
Trump argued that the program gives the president “extraordinary powers” and hinted that a bipartisan legislative fix could be on the horizon.
“President Obama said that he did not have the right to sign DACA, that it will never hold up in court. He signed it anyway!” Trump wrote in a pair of tweets. “If the Supreme Court upholds DACA, it gives the President extraordinary powers, far greater than ever thought.
“If they do what is right and do not let DACA stand, with all of its negative legal implications, the Republicans and Democrats will have a DEAL to let them stay in our Country, in very short order. It would actually benefit DACA, and be done the right way!” Trump added.
Trump was apparently referring to former president Barack Obama’s remark in 2011 regarding immigration policy.
“With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case,” he said. at the time. “I think it’s important to remind everybody that, what I’ve said previously, I am not a king, I am head of the executive branch of government. I am required to follow the law, and that is what we’ve done.”
The next year, however, Obama implemented DACA by executive order after failing to persuade Congress to pass the DREAM Act, which would have given migrants the same benefits provided by DACA but on a gradual basis.