Donald Trump’s radical mass-deportation agenda should not be allowed to hold immigrant youth hostage in order to force the nation to accept his anti-immigrant demands.
The White House’s specific requests that include extreme border and enforcement proposals—including Trump’s demand for a border wall—are intended to blow up any genuine plan to protect DACA recipients from deportation by January 19. The UFW and UFW Foundation continue to call for a “clean” Dream Act that does not exchange protection for undocumented youth for more suffering by immigrant families.
A white nationalist, anti-immigrant wish list that the Trump White House and some in Congress are trying to force upon the country would hold the safety and livelihoods of immigrant youth hostage until a radical mass-deportation agenda is adopted. It is the same cynical tactic that some in the Trump administration used last October as an attempt to blow up progress on the Dream Act.
Reports indicate the Trump administration is requesting nearly $18 billion to construct border walls and $15 billion for additional border security, including 5,000 new Border Patrol agents. The White House’s request for $33 billion for increased border militarization is part of an anti-immigrant agenda that will continue threatening immigrant communities. The farm worker movement will keep pushing for legislation that recognizes the value of undocumented immigrants.