This Issue: Trump says administration is working on executive action, while sending mixed signals on DACA

Fri, Jul. 17^th

Twice in the last week, Pres. Trump has said that his Administration is working on an executive action that could include giving green cards to DACA recipients. He first brought up the issue during an interview with Telemundo last weekend.

"One of the aspects of the bill is going to be DACA. We are going to have a road to citizenship."

Pres. Trump said "bill", but he used the term "bill" and "executive action" interchangeably throughout the interview.

Then, during his Tuesday press conference, Pres. Trump said:

"I -- we're going to be signing an immigration act very soon; it's going to be based on merit. It's going to be very strong. We're going to work on DACA because we want to make people happy."

But just yesterday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that the executive action would focus on merit-based immigration, while the White House would continue to work with Congress on DACA.

Should Pres. Trump sign an executive action that includes making DACA permanent, it would be a full reversal of his campaign promises. During his infamous August 2016 immigration speech, he said he would rescind Pres. Obama's "unconstitutional executive amnesties."

"We will immediately terminate President Obama's two illegal executive amnesties in which he defied federal law and the Constitution to give amnesty to approximately five million illegal immigrants, five million."

Furthermore, both Pres. Trump and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf have said that the administration would follow the steps laid out by the Supreme Court to end DACA after the Court decided to keep the program in place just a few weeks ago.

Trump action focused on merit-based immigration

Ever since endorsing Sen. Tom Cotton's RAISE Act a few years ago, Pres. Trump has been an advocate for merit-based immigration. While the White House did work on a proposal last year, there hasn't been any movement since then.

But in the midst of the Covid-19 national emergency, the White House is once again working on an action that could result in merit-based immigration on a temporary basis.

Last month, Pres. Trump signed a declaration that paused the issuance of most green cards and several categories of guest worker visas using the authority granted under 8 U.S.C. 1182(f). That authority allows the executive branch to suspend immigration that would be detrimental to the national interest.

He could use that same authority to issue green cards and work permits to individuals who meet certain requirements based on merit. Of course, Pres. Trump would still need Congress to pass legislation making merit-based immigration permanent.

The Trump Administration has offered a number of proposed executive actions on immigration that still haven't come to fruition, including one on Birthright Citizenship that Pres. Trump mentioned in 2018. So no one should be holding their breath waiting for action from the White House that would include merit-based immigration.

Still, we've posted new messages on your Action Board to send to the White House, urging Pres. Trump not to sign any action that reinforces the unconstitutional DACA executive amnesty.

Chris Chmielenski
NumbersUSA Deputy Director

Breitbart: "Every politician knows you have to keep your base and reach out to other votes," said Rosemary Jenks, policy director for NumbersUSA. She added:

"You can't reach out to others at the expense of your base. Bush absolutely did that.

"Too many people in Washington think [GOP] voters don't have a choice. We all have choices -- and one of those choices is to just stay at home. And there are a lot of advantages of staying home instead of going out to vote -- [so President Donald] Trump needs to be encouraging people at every step of the way, especially when it is easy to stay at home."

NumbersUSA is proud and excited to announce that we've received the Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar, the world's largest source of nonprofit information!

We're proud to use GuideStar Platinum to share our full and complete story with the world. To reach the Platinum level, we added extensive information to our Nonprofit Profile: basic contact and organizational information; in-depth financial information; quantitative information about goals, strategies, and progress toward our mission.

We need your help to fill in a lot of blanks on nearly 600 congressional races. Yes, nearly 600!

STEP 1: Go to our locator map and check out the Primary candidates for Representative in your own District -- as well as for a Senate race, if your state has one this year.

You'll probably find a lot of blanks because most candidates have not taken our survey and we've not come across them taking immigration positions in the media. In general, you can assume the blanks are masking a poor or bad position. Let's unmask them.

STEP 2: Email Joe by clicking here if you see any comment about one of those candidates taking an immigration position in the newspaper or on the internet. Pay special attention to candidates who are considered competitive for possibly winning the Primary.

The New York Times Shows How Immigration Contributes to Inequality

Lisa Venus

Fri, Jul. 17^th

Many of our essential workers -- consisting of large numbers of Blacks, Hispanics, and women who were economically vulnerable before the pandemic -- have been potentially risking their lives to remain employed amidst outbreaks. For the unemployed, there is grim uncertainty.

House Approp. Comm. Advances Spending Bill Drastically Cutting ICE Funding, Reversing Trump Asylum Policies

Thu, Jul. 16^th

Brushing aside worries of spurring a new border surge, House Democrats led the push Wednesday to slash ICE funding, saying they were determined to punish the agency for "willful disregard of Congress's role" in setting immigration priorities.

Biden downgrades from D to F-minus on Worker-Protection Immigration Grade Cards

Roy Beck

Tue, Jul. 15^th

The new Unity Plan negotiated between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders significantly worsens Biden's standing in seven immigration categories that affect U.S. workers. Here they are.

Denying New Hearing, 2nd Circuit Sides With Trump on Sanctuary City Grants

Tue, Jul. 15^th

Breaking apart from every other U.S. circuit court, a federal appeals court that President Trump flipped last year cleared the way Monday for the Justice Department to withhold grant money from sanctuary jurisdictions.

Trump mentions order granting DACA citizenship; White House backtracks

Mon, Jul. 14^th

The White House corrected some misconceptions Friday after President Trump suggested he was working on an executive order that would attempt to grant citizenship rights to illegal immigrant "Dreamers," saying President Trump is actually talking about two different issues.