Trump Tweets 'Many DACA Recipients Are Criminals' and a Gov't Report Proves Him Right

The president tweeted out a criticism of criminal DACA recipients today that set Twitter on fire arguing over immigration law.

Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from “angels.” Some are very tough, hardened criminals. President Obama said he had no legal right to sign order, but would anyway. If Supreme Court remedies with overturn, a deal will be made with Dems for them to stay!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019

“Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from ‘angels.’ Some are very tough, hardened criminals. President Obama said he had no legal right to sign order, but would anyway. If Supreme Court remedies with overturn, a deal will be made with Dems for them to stay!” he wrote.

Immediately, critics jumped in to claim that DACA recipients are not only not criminals but that the program does not allow people with criminal histories to be accepted.

Trump calls some DACA recipients “very tough, hardened criminals.” While anyone can commit a crime, that’s incorrect. The DACA program bars people with serious criminal convictions https://t.co/yCuRDnPcdy https://t.co/yOCaxSWn5K

— Ted Hesson (@tedhesson) November 12, 2019

Ted Hesson, reporter for Reuters, claimed that the law “bars people with serious criminal convictions” from being recipients of the amnesty program. He cited U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ frequently asked questions.

If you have been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, or three or more other misdemeanor offenses not occurring on the same date and not arising out of the same act, omission, or scheme of misconduct, you will not be considered for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) except where the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determines there are exceptional circumstances.

This appears to say that people with criminal histories are not considered for DACA. An official review of DACA recipients, however, tells a different story. On the same website is this announcement on the USCIS page, dated June 2018: “New Data Shows Criminal Arrest Histories of DACA Requestors.” It clearly shows DACA requestors with criminal records were approved for the program.

Almost 8-percent of total DACA requestors (59,786 individuals) had arrest records as of the date the systems were queried, which included offenses such as assault and battery, rape, murder, and drunk driving, among others. “Requestors” includes individuals approved and denied DACA.

Of those individuals whose DACA requests were approved and had one or more arrests or apprehensions, 53,792 were arrested or apprehended prior to their most recent approval.

Approximately 13-percent (7,814) of approved DACA requestors with an arrest had an arrest after their grant was approved and prior to renewal.

54.8-percent of DACA requestors with more than one arrest (17,079) most recently had a DACA case status of “approved” as of the date the systems were queried.

199 individuals who requested DACA had 10 or more arrests. Of those, 51 most recently had DACA case status of “approved,” as of the date the systems were queried.

Further, the report goes on to contradict what appears to be policy of not allowing felons to get protection.

As such, criminal activity of DACA requestors has long been the subject of widespread discussion and speculation, with a regrettable lack of available data until now. The truth is that we let those with criminal arrests for sexually assaulting a minor, kidnapping, human trafficking, child pornography, or even murder be provided protection from removal. Yet the courts rule that we are unable to change this policy – even though those with criminal histories are getting through the system and permitted to remain in the country, despite having a high number of arrests for any types of crimes before or after receiving DACA protection,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna.

“There are legitimate concerns over a portion of the population who have requested, and been granted, the privilege of a temporary stay of their removal under the illegal DACA policy. Until it can be repealed, this criminality data only reinforces the need for its continued review and scrutiny, which was imposed unilaterally by the Obama administration in circumventing Congress. It’s our hope that it helps the public and policy makers better understand the reality of the entire DACA population,” Cissna added.

It is unclear why Immigration Services is unable to follow its own rules of excluding felons from the program, but according to the report, that’s exactly what is happening. Upon further research, the full PDF report states:

Under long-standing DACA guidelines, not all convictions or arrests will necessarily result in a denial or termination, unless, as a matter of its discretion, USCIS determines that DACA is not warranted due to public safety, national security, or other discretionary factors on a case-by-case basis. However, pursuant to the DACA guidelines, an individual may request consideration for DACA if, among other things, he or she has not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, or three or more non-significant misdemeanors.

If it is a matter of discretion, that isn’t clearly defined, then it isn’t hard to imagine that bureaucrats operating in near secrecy without transparency could have been rubber-stamping applications for reasons known only to them. This would square with the current crisis of out-of-control administrative deep-staters undermining this president at every level.

This table in the report shows how many convicted, violent criminals were allowed in under the DACA program. What a disgrace.

(Screenshot from IDENT report)

Once again, President Trump is proven right and his critics in the media are either too lazy or too complicit to care about massive fraud perpetrated on the American public.