Stories to watch: What happens to the ‘DREAMers’?

Liz Goodwin
·Senior National Affairs Reporter

Donald Trump is in the White House, and Yahoo News is taking a look at the top stories to watch in his first 100 days. From the unusual role family members will play as White House advisers, to his promises to aggressively transform U.S. trade policy, and from investigations into Russian interference in the election to his relationship with Paul Ryan, we’ll be rolling out 15 stories over five days — signposts for the road ahead.

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THE STAKES

On the campaign trail throughout 2016, Donald Trump repeatedly vowed to revoke Barack Obama’s executive action protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation. A decision to end deportation relief could affect some or all of the 750,000 young immigrants who were protected under a 2012 executive order signed by then President Obama.

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THE STORY

Now that he’s in the Oval Office, there are some signs the new president is backing off that campaign promise — a key part of his larger message of cracking down on undocumented immigrants with a wall on the southern border, deportation task forces and stricter enforcement of visa overstays.

While Trump has signed orders this first week focused on strengthening immigration enforcement and starting the process that would lead to construction of a border wall, he has not addressed the question of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (or DACA) policy.

Trump has shown some sympathy for “DREAMers” — the term advocates and lawmakers use for children who were brought to the country illegally by their parents — since winning the election. He told Time magazine he wanted to “work something out” for that particular group.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer dodged several questions Monday about whether Trump would rescind the order, saying that the president’s focus is on immigrants with criminal records. “We’re going to continue to work through the entire number of folks who are here illegally,” Spicer said, leaving open the possibility that the administration would eventually deport the DREAMers.

Adding to the confusion, Vox has reported that a draft executive order to end the DACA policy exists.

Though DREAMers’ fates are uncertain, it’s clear the new Trump administration is in no hurry to deal with them. That could anger the new president’s base, given how central anti-immigration rhetoric was to his campaign. But Republican lawmakers in Congress, who are eager to use their momentum to pass tax reform, repeal Obamacare and other measures, do not want to be bogged down in a legislative debate over the nation’s most sympathetic undocumented immigrants.

Reforming the immigration system as a whole will be the larger problem — no Congress has managed a comprehensive overhaul since 1986. Trump has said he wants to limit high-skilled HB1 visas. It’s unclear if he would ever support a way for some of the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants to apply to legalize their status.

The way in which Trump handles the DREAMers and immigration overall this year will be a test of whether he is able to govern as a pragmatic businessman free of partisan shackles, as he pitched himself, or if he is more beholden to his base.

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THE PLAYERS

If Trump does pull the trigger on the executive action, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois, and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, have introduced a bill that would essentially extend Obama’s executive action for three years legislatively. The measure would continue protections from deportation and access to work permits as Congress hypothetically worked to reform the immigration system.

Their colleagues in the House may have a fiercer battle over the issue. House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul, of Texas, told an audience at a Bloomberg Government event this week that while his caucus was concerned about undocumented immigrants, the question remained, “What do you do about the 12- and 15-year-olds? I don’t think you’re going to see mass deportations.”

But Rep. Steve King, the Republican from Iowa who is the leading hardliner on immigration, has said Trump’s only option is to rescind the DACA order.

“He’s got to keep his word, or his presidency will be rendered toothless and ineffective and non-credible for the duration,” King said.
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