The Washington Post is blasting Congress for not doing anything yet to save 700,000 dreamers – the undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.
"Legions of chief executives, university presidents, advocacy groups and others have pleaded for lawmakers to lift the veil of uncertainty under which these immigrants, American in all but the legal sense, have lived since September, when the Trump administration announced it planned to end the protection from deportation they have enjoyed since 2012," the Post said in an editorial.
"Despite those pleas, Congress, facing a March deadline, has provided no legal means for dreamers to remain in the country where they’ve grown up, gone to school, worked and, in most cases, paid taxes."
But it noted Congress has failed to take any action.
"Instead, the dreamers have become a bargaining chip, held in reserve by politicians seeking political advantage in Washington’s unending partisan battles," the editorial said. "Large majorities of Americans favor allowing dreamers to stay in this country legally, as do top executives across the technology, retail, financial and other sectors. Still, an eminently solvable problem remains unsolved."
The newspaper warned time is running out for Congress to do something to help the dreamers, who will become eligible for deportation.
"Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on dreamers, most of them in their teens, 20s and early 30s," the Post said. "Owing to the administration’s decision to terminate Obama-era protections for them, about 30,000 will lose their protected status each month starting in March unless Congress acts. That means that in addition to becoming eligible for deportation, they also will lose permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which the Trump administration axed, that enable many of them to enroll in college with in-state tuition subsidies, work legally and obtain valid state driver’s licenses."
The Post pointed out House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said any solution also would require "a lot of other things" relating to border enforcement.
"That suggests Republicans are more interested in exacting concessions than in protecting hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have built lives in this country," the Post said. "Not exactly a recipe for hope."
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