Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach didn’t mince words when asked what President Trump should do about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. His advice to president Trump is to end it right now.
Kobach was on Fox and Friends Friday morning to to discuss DACA, which shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The president is expected to end the 2012 program but according to sources “will likely let the immigrants known as Dreamers stay in the United States until their work permits run out.”
Trump said Friday he plans to make a decision on the future of the policy either “today or over the weekend.”
“My advice to the president would be to end DACA right now,” said Kobach. “The legal question isn’t even a close one. You’ve already had multiple courts say a similar amnesty that came a few years after DACA was completely illegal. This one’s illegal.”
Kobach, who is also vice chair of the president’s Election Integrity Commission, continued: “It violates three federal laws. It violates the United States Constitution — it’s a loser. And the president — if he were to continue DACA — would lose in court and politically. For him, it would be a very bad political construction because his base would be cheering against him when his administration loses.”
“I know the attorney general recognizes that this is indefensible,” he said.
Kobach went on to say that those who believe — like Geraldo Rivera — that there is a “compelling emotional case” for giving those who came to the U.S. at a young age amnesty should take the case to Congress.
“Our Constitution is very clear. Our founding fathers allowed amnesties. … They developed a legislative branch that would have that power. But only the legislative branch has that power. You cannot go around Congress, as President Obama did, and create an executive amnesty,” Kobach argued.
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