Obama on Dreamers: "They Have Done Nothing Wrong"
I know that some immigrant rights advocates dubbed Obama the "Deporter-in-Chief" for creating "the most sophisticated and well-funded human-expulsion machine in the history of the country," as The Nation put it last year. But that portrait of the previous administration's position on immigration is becoming more complicated as new numbers and more analysis emerges, and it doesn't change the fact that Obama's statement on Trump's DACA decision gets straight to the heart of the matter using language that even your Trumpian uncle can understand:
Let’s be clear: the action taken today isn’t required legally. It’s a political decision, and a moral question. Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn’t threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us. They are that pitcher on our kid’s softball team, that first responder who helps out his community after a disaster, that cadet in ROTC who wants nothing more than to wear the uniform of the country that gave him a chance. Kicking them out won’t lower the unemployment rate, or lighten anyone’s taxes, or raise anybody’s wages.
And that's just it. Aside from the cascade of bald-faced lies that poured from Jeff Sessions's mouth this morning, there is no economic or existential justification for this destruction of lives and livelihoods. Dreamers save lives, massively contribute to the economy, and even pay into Social Security and without receiving benefits. And as Vox reports, many Dreamers don't even know they're undocumented until they try obtaining a driver's license.
There is only a racist and political excuse for rescinding DACA, and it's pretty obvious: All he wants to do, to the extent that he's capable of "wanting to do" anything at all, is rile up his own base after months of inaction and basic administrative blunders.
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/09/05/25394335/obama-on-dreamers-they-have-done-nothing-wrong
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