President Trump on Monday continued to blame Democrats for inaction on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as the deadline for a legislative fix came and went.
“It’s March 5th and the Democrats are nowhere to be found on DACA. Gave them 6 months, they just don’t care. Where are they? We are ready to make a deal!” Trump tweeted.
The president has consistently blamed Democratic lawmakers for the lack of a deal on DACA and immigration reform, despite a number of bipartisan proposals to extend the program that the president refused to back.
The Obama-era program allows immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to remain here without fear of deportation.
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The Trump administration moved to end DACA last year, giving lawmakers six months to come up with a permanent solution. Congress has been unable to reach a consensus on the issue, and the program was set to expire Monday.
However, that deadline was essentially nullified when the Supreme Court declined to hear arguments on the legal fight surrounding DACA. As a result, an injunction issued by a lower court will keep the program in place amid a legal review.
In the meantime, immigration negotiations in Congress appear to have stalled.
The Trump administration has proposed a hard-line approach of offering a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million immigrants, many of whom benefit from DACA, coupled with $25 billion for border security and changes to legal immigration programs.
That proposal, and three other bipartisan measures that addressed DACA, failed in the Senate last month.
In light of Monday’s deadline, Democrats attempted to focus the blame on Trump and Republicans for inaction on DACA.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez on Monday called ending the program a “cruel and reckless decision,” adding that Republicans were “holding Dreamers hostage.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a statement that there’s “no one to blame but President Trump” for the uncertainty surrounding the status of Dreamers.