Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris on Tuesday night criticized the Trump administration for ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and said it's "irresponsible" to link "Dreamers" to violent illegals.
The California Democrat, a guest on MSNBC's "The Last Word," also said she's not surprised by it — President Donald Trump "has been clear where he is on immigration."
But Harris took issue with Attorney General Jeff Sessions framing Dreamers with undocumented criminals, and Trump linking the DACA program to Americans being out of work.
"As a leader, you gotta stop pulling out the boogeyman," Harris told MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell. "These young people — let's be very clear. They qualified for DACA because they cleared a vetting where there was a very, very intense process of looking into their backgrounds.
"So for the attorney general to suggest they are other than lawful … is just irresponsible," Harris said.
And Dreamers being responsible for unemployed Americans?
"That is a false choice," Harris said.
"There was no question we need to take care of hard-working Americans who want to work, many of whom lost their jobs during the Great Recession and they need a pathway to find meaningful employment, and we can do a much better job of helping them do that," Harris said. "It's a false choice to say it's one over the other, and it's really irresponsible to suggest to hard-working Americans that the only thing preventing them from getting a job are these Dreamers.
O'Donnell ended by trying to goad Harris into answering her intentions to run or not to in 2020.
"I don't even know what I'm having for dinner," Harris said, laughing.
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