A.G. Gancarski
The Donald Trump administration announced Tuesday plans to scrap DACA: the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The program was instituted by President Barack Obama via an Executive Order that current Attorney General Jeff Sessions will not defend.
With six months for Congress to perhaps institute a legislative fix to DACA, Florida’s Senators both have concerns about the way forward.
Sen. Marco Rubio agreed that the program as currently constituted violates the U.S. Constitution — but has questions about where the White House wants to go.
“I have long supported accommodating those brought to this country illegally through no fault of their own. However,” Rubio said, “I have always felt that President Obama’s executive action was unconstitutional and that the right way to address this issue was through legislation.”
“Congress now has less than six months to deal with this the right way, through the legislative process. It is important that the White House clearly outline what kind of legislation the president is willing to sign. We have no time to waste on ideas that do not have the votes to pass or that the president won’t sign,” Rubio added.
Sen. Bill Nelson, meanwhile and unsurprisingly, took issue with the decision as a whole.
“DREAMers are our neighbors and our friends. They are our high school valedictorians and our first responders. It’s time for us, as a country, to come together and acknowledge the many contributions that DREAMers have made to our great country, instead of trying to kick them out of the only country they’ve ever known,” Nelson said.
Splitting the distance between the two Senatorial positions last week was Gov. Rick Scott, who issued a preemptive statement, saying that while “President Obama was wrong to address the Dreamers issue by Executive Order,” DACA “kids must be allowed to pursue the American Dream, and Congress must act on this immediately.
