With the Trump administration expected to announce a final decision by next Tuesday regarding the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slattery has announced that his state has pulled out of a Texas-led letter from Republican state leaders threatening to sue the administration unless it ends the program by next week. In his announcement, Slattery explicitly urges the state’s U.S. senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, to pass the bipartisan 2017 DREAM Act, which would put immigrant youth on a path to citizenship.
“There is a human element to this,” writes Slattery, “that is not lost on me and should not be ignored. Many of the DACA recipients, some of whose records I reviewed, have outstanding accomplishments and laudable ambitions, which if achieved, will be of great benefit and service to our country. They have an appreciation for the opportunities afforded them by our country.”
“Our office has decided not to challenge DACA in the litigation, because we believe there is a better approach”:
Your colleagues, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R- S.C) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill), have introduced legislation addressing the DACA program (S. 1 61 5). Whether this particular legislation is a viable solution is a matter for congressional debate. It is not a comprehensive answer to our immigration policy challenges, but it would be a very good start. As I have admired your careers over the years, I have perhaps been most impressed at how you take on difficult problems and lead us to a better place. I encourage your serious consideration of this proposed legislation.
No doubt this change of heart is thanks to the ongoing efforts of undocumented immigrant youth and other leaders in his state, like the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, who have been on the ground relentlessly pushing elected leaders. It’s also a reminder to us all to keep pushing.
The fact is that as the Trump administration threatens to uproot 800,000 Americans from the only place they call home, he is losing Republican support and facing a national wall of bipartisan opposition. Americans by an overwhelming majority not only support letting immigrant youth stay, but also passing permanent legislation to protect them. To oppose immigrant youth is to be on the wrong side of history. Slattery seems to have noticed. What about the rest of his Republican colleagues?