Rare News Desk
By Natalie Dreier and Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
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UPDATE:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is speaking Tuesday morning on the administration’s decision to roll back the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA.
“The program known as DACA … is being rescinded,” Sessions said.
Sessions said that with the executive order that created DACA, Obama “deliberately sought to achieve what the legislative branch specifically refused to authorize on multiple occasions.”
“If we are to further our goal of strengthening the Constitutional order and rule of law in America, the Department of Justice can not defend this overreach,” Sessions said.
He said that authorities will be winding down the program, although he did not specify how long the process would take.
He emphasized that the decision was not meant to reflect on the quality of the nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants affected by the DACA program.
“This does not mean that they are bad people,” he said.
News outlets reported over the weekend that Trump planned to announce the end of DACA, with a six month delay to give Congress time to come up with an alternative.
In light of the news, at least two state attorneys general announced that they planned to sue Trump if he announced he would be ending the program.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is scheduled to speak Tuesday morning on the administration’s decision to roll back the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. It is better known as DACA.
There have been reports that President Donald Trump will end the Obama-era program if Congress cannot come up with an immigration law plan within six months, multiple media outlets have reported.
RELATED: Now we know what Barack Obama wrote in his Oval Office welcome letter to Donald Trump
There are about 800,000 people who could be deported, since they entered the U.S. illegally as children, ABC News reported.
The decision to stop the DACA program has come under political fire since Trump took office, ABC News reported.
He had pledged during the campaign to stop DACA immediately, the New York Times reported. Since he took office, Trump seemed to soften his political rhetoric and said that the Dreamers, whom he called “absolutely incredible kids,” deserve compassion. Recently, though, advisors have been vocal in telling the president to stop the program. Sessions told President Trump that DACA is unconstitutional and not defensible, the New York Times reported.
Sessions stood by the belief that it was Congress’ job to pass immigration law, not the White House, Politico reported.
RELATED: Silent no more? Obama reportedly expected to speak out against Trump’s DACA decision
Twenty state attorneys general said in July that they will use “all appropriate means” to defend the program. New York and Washington announced that they will sue Trump if he does stop DACA. Nine state attorneys have said they’ll sue if he doesn’t end it, ABC News reported.
Sessions said he was going to crack down on illegal immigration and told federal prosecutors to give some immigration offenses priority.
The attorney general said in April that there could be felony charges for those who have come into the United States illegally multiple times or were married only to become legal citizens.
Sessions is scheduled to speak at 11 a.m. He will not be taking questions from the media, The Washington Examiner reported.
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