Immigration Group Obliterates Trump’s DACA Scheme: It’s A ‘White Supremacist Ransom Note’

Donald Trump’s new immigration proposal faced immediate backlash on Thursday, with one Dreamer advocacy group calling it a “white supremacist ransom note.”

United We Dream, a youth immigrant organization, said they will not allow young immigrants to “be used as bargaining chips for Stephen Miller’s white supremacist immigrant agenda.”

More of the statement from the group’s advocacy director, Greisa Martinez Rosas:

“Let’s call this proposal for what it is: a white supremacist ransom note. Trump and Stephen Miller killed DACA and created the crisis that immigrant youth are facing. They have taken immigrant youth hostage, pitting us against our own parents, Black immigrants and our communities in exchange for our dignity.”

 

“To Miller and Trump’s white supremacist proposal, immigrant youth say: No.

 

…

 

“But our fear, our pain, and our lives must not be used to shackle our parents and ban those seeking refuge; we must not be used to tear apart the moral fabric of this country. For months, we have organized and mobilized the country to demand a common sense solution that delivers protection without harming others: the Dream Act.”

 

“So let us be clear: any politician who backs up this ransom note is enabling Trump and Miller’s white supremacist agenda.

 

“Members of Congress of conscience must make the moral choice to reject this white supremacist proposal and pass legislation that protects us without harming others. Dream Act now.”

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren echoed the group’s tough statement on Thursday, calling Trump’s proposal “insulting.” In a tweet, she urged leaders to unite behind the Dream Act, which would immediately protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation.

The backlash from Democrats and other immigration advocates comes after Trump said on Thursday that he will continue to hold nearly 2 million Dreamers hostage until Democrats agree to fork over $25 billion in taxpayer dollars for a wall that he repeatedly said Mexico would pay for.

At the end of the day, there is widespread support for allowing Dreamers to stay in the United States. Congress should act immediately to make that happen and protect them from deportation.

On the flip side, public opinion polling shows that a majority of the American people think the wall is, frankly, a dumb idea. An even larger majority thinks taxpayers, not Mexico, will foot the bill.

It’s time for the President of the United States to stop holding young immigrants hostage in order to appeal to the loudest and most vile members of his administration and his base.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.