Amnesty Advocates Storm Congress over Threats to DACA

Amnesty Advocates Storm Congress over Threats to DACA
Tony Lee

Amnesty advocates stormed Congress Friday and dared Representatives, particularly Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), to take away their Deferred Action status.

Nearly 560,000 people have received temporary amnesty and work permits after President Barack Obama unilaterally enacted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program two years ago. In September, those who received DACA in 2012 can apply to renew their status for an additional two years.

Julieta Garibay, the co-founder of the activist United We Dream group, tweeted a photo as activists were storming Issa’s office and wrote, “#dreamers taking over @DarrellIssa’s office after his ridiculous statement against #DACA telling him ‘Come & take it!'”

Garibay was referring to a letter Issa wrote to House colleagues this week in which he reportedly wrote that Obama should “make an explicit public commitment that [he] will not support legislation that extends legal status to newly arriving illegal aliens no matter the age.”

“[T]he very existence of the program contradicts present law and violates the Constitutional principle of a separation of powers which grants primary law making authority to the Congress,” Issa wrote, according to The Huffington Post. “The Executive does not get to pick and choose which laws must be enforced and which can be selectively ignored… DACA rewards families and individuals who have broken our laws, further encouraging others to seek similar benefits.”

United We Dream is reportedly pushing for the temporary amnesty program to be extended to family members of DACA recipients.

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