Michigan Politicians Condemn DACA Move By Trump Administration

The fate of some 6,700 people across Michigan got very murky as the Trump Administration set about to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program enacted under former President Obama. Attorney Jeff Sessions said on Tuesday that the so-called DACA program was unconstitutional and that it leads to crime while hurting job prospects for Americans who are in the nation legally.

Multiple protests across the state, including ones in Detroit, included undocumented immigrants and people who spoke on their behalf. While Democrats unilaterally opposed the move, many Republicans also spoke out against President Trump’s action.

Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, issued a statement that the state will “continue to honor everyone’s journey who has become part of our family of 10 million people.” The state, he noted, would remain “the most welcoming state” in the nation for immigrants and dreamers. (To stay up to date on local stories, subscribe to the Patch Detroit newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

"We are the best Michigan when we are a diverse Michigan – one that is made up of people whose stories and journeys are not identical,” Snyder said. He called on Congress to act quickly “for the certainty” of these young individuals and to “clarify their status.”

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, (D-Dearborn), opposed the move and called Trump’s action “heartbreaking for the individuals who came to this country as children and for the businesses, universities and communities that benefit from their contributions every day.” She called on her colleagues in Congress to come together to protect those people.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, tweeted out her response

The Michigan Legislative Latino Caucus of Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Township), Erika Geiss (D-Taylor), Vanessa Guerra (D-Saginaw) and Henry Yanez (D-Sterling Heights) issued a joint statement, condemning Trump’s decision to end “the successful and popular Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.”

In their statement, the four Michigan lawmakers said, “dreamers across Michigan are proud to call our state home. They are our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends and our family members. They work hard, study hard and play by the rules, exhibiting the very traits that our country asks of all of us."

State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn), lambasted the action, saying that Trump has “turned the American Dream into a nightmare. … Ripping 800,000 people away from work and school, and potentially forcing them out of the only country they’ve ever called home is not the way to fix our immigration system.”

Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat running for governor of Michigan, also condemned the move and said it would deprive some 800,000 people across the nation a path to documented citizenship.
"Imagine being told that you had to leave the country of your childhood—the place you grew up, went to school, and built your life. That is what Donald Trump and his administration are telling undocumented Americans who were brought here as children by repealing DACA. … Repealing DACA stands against our deepest American ideals.”

Photo by Matt York/Associated Press