Hoosier Leaders React to DACA Decision
(Image of Tom Linebarger courtesy of Cummins Inc.)
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowSeveral Hoosier businesses, universities and politicians are speaking out about plans by the Trump administration to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA, enacted by President Barack Obama in 2012, protects undocumented immigrants brought into the United States as children from deportation.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions detailed the plans to rescind the program during a news conference Tuesday. The administration’s move will take effect in March 2018 in order for Congress to create legislation to address the issue. Our partners at WIBC in Indianapolis report an estimated 10,000 Indiana residents are protected under DACA.
Tom Linebarger, chief executive officer of Columbus-based Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI), said:
The decision by the Trump Administration to rescind DACA is discriminatory, harmful and sets our country back. These young people deserve every opportunity to continue living, working, and thriving in the United States – for nearly all of them the U.S. is the only country they have ever known. This is their home.
Dreamers are our colleagues, our friends and our neighbors. They strengthen our country through daily contributions to our companies, our universities and our communities. We have a moral obligation to help these young people, protect them from living in fear, and to prevent families from being torn apart.
Cummins stands in full support of Dreamers and we ask Congress to take immediate action to pass the Dream Act or find a permanent legislative solution to support these young people before anyone is affected by this decision.
We hope that Americans speak out and make it clear to Congress and the President that we stand with the Dreamers.
Indiana University President Michael McRobbie said, in part:
Indiana University is deeply disappointed in the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, especially in light of the administration’s prior statements expressing support for young people protected by DACA and the strong bipartisan support that exists nationwide for maintaining the program.
Ending the DACA program will undermine IU’s ability to educate our students to prepare them for a lifetime of informed and active global citizenship. Nevertheless, we remain strongly committed to creating a supportive and welcoming environment for students from all backgrounds and from all parts of the globe.
Representative Luke Messer (R-6) said:
Hoosiers want us to follow the Constitution and uphold our immigration laws. President Trump’s decision today is a step toward finally addressing illegal immigration in our country. Let’s remember, President Obama’s decision to unilaterally rewrite our laws was illegal. Now, Congress has its chance to pass legislation that secures our border, restores rule of law and delivers on our promises to the American people. The details of any legislation addressing DACA’s phase out will matter, and I am eager to get to work on a solution.
Representative Jim Banks (R-3) said:
President Trump is fulfilling a campaign pledge by reasserting that Congress, not the executive branch, has the constitutional role of setting our country’s immigration policy. President Obama never had the legal authority to change our nation’s immigration laws.
Congress must seize this opportunity and pass a solution that modernizes our outdated immigration policies, finally secures our border and increases enforcement to reduce illegal immigration. There is a path forward for Congress to fix our broken immigration system and resolve this situation, as President Trump has said, ‘with heart.’
Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN) said:
Our country is still in need of reforms to fix our immigration system and strengthen border security, but in the interim we should pass bipartisan legislation to give these young people, who were brought here through no fault of their own, some clarity and stability. Upending existing protections for the nearly 10,000 young people in Indiana who have been living here for most of their lives isn’t the path we should take.
Representative Susan Brooks (R-5)
The dissolving of DACA will not take place for another six months, giving Congress time to work to provide these kids who are woven into our communities, the reassurance that they will be able to continue living their lives as they always have. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to find a compassionate resolution that will not punish children for the actions of their parents. Sending these children back to countries they are not familiar with is not the solution.
This issue further emphasizes my continued belief that we must focus on reforming our nation’s broken immigration system. It is essential that our immigration system be reflective of our national interests while keeping Americans safe.