- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

‘Inhumane’: US Immigration Officials Raid Workplaces as DACA Remains in Limbo

© AP Photo / Carolyn KasterA woman holds up a sign that reads "Defend DACA Defend TPS" during a rally supporting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, outside the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017
A woman holds up a sign that reads Defend DACA Defend TPS during a rally supporting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, outside the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Angie Kim, an immigrants rights advocate and community organizer with MinKwon Center for Community Action, spoke with Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear about the court’s blocking of the phaseout of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and described Wednesday morning’s immigration raid on 7-Eleven stores across the nation as “inhumane.”

On Tuesday, US District Judge in San Francisco William Alsup blocked US President Donald Trump's administration from phasing out DACA, the Obama-era immigration policy that allowed young undocumented individuals who had arrived in the US as children to be given work permits and a renewable two-year period of deferred action for deportation.

​Alsup's reason for blocking the administration's decision? The US president tweeted twice in September supporting the program, resulting in a classic Trump versus Trump situation.

Just a few days after Department of Homeland Security officials rescinded DACA on September 5, Trump tweeted: "Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military? Really!"

Another Trump tweet on September 6 reads: "Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can't, I will revisit this issue!"

In his recent ruling, Alsup wrote, "We seem to be in the unusual position wherein the ultimate authority over the agency, the Chief Executive, publicly favors the very program the agency has ended.

​"For the reasons DACA was instituted and for the reasons tweeted by President Trump, this order finds that the public interest will be served by DACA's continuation," he added.

"I think Trump ran his campaign on the promise to eliminate the DACA program and he has taken on several different positions since he took office," Kim said to hosts

John Kiriakou and Brian Becker. "His administration obviously ended the program on September 5, 2017… Since September 5, DACA recipients have began to lose their status according to their individual expiration date. Since then, President Trump has taken on two very different opposing positions."

On Tuesday, during a meeting with Congress members, Trump said that he was open to reviving DACA provided he receives a funding deal to build his much-talked-about wall along the US-Mexican border.

"We'll do DACA," Trump said during the meeting. "Then we can start comprehensive immigration reform the next afternoon."

"Yesterday in the meeting, he [Trump] took on a position of a leader on bipartisanship to pass immigration reform that includes a solution for DACA recipients," Kim noted.

"Basically, he is going back and forth on this issue. It's very irrational and erratic. He's completely unpredictable." 

Border Patrol agents patrol the United States-Mexico Border wall during Opening the Door Of Hope/Abriendo La Puerta De La Esparana at Friendship Park in San Ysidro, California on Saturday, November 19, 2016 - Sputnik International
Trump Tells Democrats No Action on DACA Without Border Wall Budget

While unpredictable on DACA, Trump has generally backed his strong anti-immigration language on the campaign trail with action since taking office. During Wednesday morning's immigration raid of 100 7-Eleven stores around the country, 21 people suspected of working illegally were arrested, making it the largest employment sweep in

Trump's presidency yet. Kim described it as "This is as inhumane as it gets."

"It is a direct attack on immigrants. This is something we have been fearing for a long time. This is something undocumented communities have experienced for a very long time. I've said it again and again that, unfortunately, a lot of the conversation in Washington politicizing the [immigration] issue has shadowed what undocumented communities experience every day," Kim said.

"The truth is that in the shadows, undocumented individuals and families are being broken apart, people are being raided in their homes and at work and people who are not a threat to the country are being arrested for no reason."

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала