President Donald Trump seems to have woken up in a bit of a defeatist mood Sunday, saying that stalled talks over an immigration deal has likely dashed any hopes of a deal to protect “Dreamers” from deportation. And who’s to blame? Why, Democrats, of course. “DACA is probably dead because the Democrats don’t really want it, they just want to talk and take desperately needed money away from our Military,” Trump tweeted Sunday morning.
The president followed up with another tweet a few minutes later in which he wrote that he wants immigrants “who are going to help us become strong and great again,” meaning “No More Lotteries!”
Debate over the future of the program that protects nearly 800,000 immigrants who were brought to the United States as children is likely to reach a fever pitch this week as Congress and the White House scramble to reach a deal to prevent a government shutdown as agencies are scheduled to run out of cash Friday.
As Trump sounds negative about the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, immigration advocates are calling on beneficiaries of the program to move quickly and take advantage of a window that has opened up to renew their deportation protection. The government said Saturday that it has resumed accepting applications from beneficiaries of DACA after a federal judge in San Francisco temporarily blocked efforts to end the program. Although the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it would not be accepting new applications, it did say renewal requests could be submitted. But time could be very limited.
“This might be a short window to file #DACA renewals given that the Trump administration is likely to appeal the court ruling that forced them to reopen renewals in the first place,” the National Immigration Law Center noted on Twitter. “Use this weekend to get well-informed regarding requirements and prepare your renewal #DACA application.”
