Rep. Pascrell Statement on DACA Termination

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09) released this statement after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that President Trump will terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative.

“Attorney General Sessions gave a shameful presentation that stroked a false narrative of DACA recipients and President Trump showed cowardice for not announcing his decision himself. Ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative is a deliberate and unjust act of cruelty,” Rep Pascrell said. “By placing nearly 800,000 young immigrant workers lives in limbo, this decision will tear families apart, do nothing to improve our broken immigration system, and wipe out one and a half billion dollars in New Jersey’s economy alone.”

“President Trump just lit a fuse under hard-working, tax-paying young Americans and he’s leaving it to Congress to put it out. DACA was always meant to be a temporary initiative, and Congress must respond immediately by creating a permanent legislative solution to protect the American dream for these aspiring Americans,” Rep Pascrell said. “As Congress works to achieve this goal, I will continue fighting any effort to use these dreamers as a bargaining chip to further the Republican Party’s anti-immigration agenda.”