Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Xavier Becerra And Other Attorneys General Urge President Trump To Defend DACA
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. (Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images)
()
In a letter sent Friday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and 19 other attorneys general urged President Donald Trump to maintain the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, citing its positive impact on states and the nation as a whole. The policy has provided work authorization and deportation relief for close to 750,000 young immigrants since its implementation in 2012. During President Trump's campaign, he was vocal about ending the program. Since his inauguration, he has taken on a less urgent tone, however recent remarks from Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly appeared to place the program in danger. The first deportation of an immigrant protected with DACA status occurred in April.
In announcing the letter Friday, Becerra said "The President should defend this vital initiative that benefits families, communities and economies in California and across the country." California is home to 200,000 DACA recipients, all of whom work and pay taxes in the state. The letter itself reads, "We urge you to affirm America’s values and tradition as a nation of immigrants and make clear that you will not only continue DACA, but that you will defend it." The attorneys general continued, writing, "DACA sensibly guides immigration officials’ exercise of their enforcement discretion and reserves limited resources to address individuals who threaten our communities, not those who contribute greatly to them."
The other attorneys general who helped pen the letter come from Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Washington, D.C.
The letter comes in response to a letter pushed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions in June, asking him and President Trump to end the DACA initiative, according to Politico. Texas did not object to the original DACA program back in 2012, but, along with 25 other states, sued against its expansion in 2014, which would have extended the program's protections to parents. The expansion was deadlocked in the Supreme Court and never went into effect. Texas AG Paxton and the 9 other attorneys general threatened litigation against President Trump's administration should he continue the DACA program as it currently stands.
Support for LAist comes from
Becerra and the 19 other attorneys general who urge President Trump to defend DACA point out the differences in the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) expansion to DACA, namely "the different populations addressed by each program." They therefore consider "arguments set forth in that letter [written by Texas AG Paxton] are wrong as a matter of law and policy."
Becerra announced the letter in front of a group of students at Cal State L.A., according to the L.A. Times. Several DACA recipients were in the crowd cheering him on. He was joined by his successor to CA District 34, Congressman Jimmy Gomez.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist