White House: DACA benefits ‘illegal immigrants en masse’

The White House is blasting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as benefitting “illegal immigrants en masse” in its reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision not to enter the legal fray.

“The DACA program — which provides work permits and myriad government benefits to illegal immigrants en masse — is clearly unlawful. The district judge’s decision unilaterally to re-impose a program that Congress had explicitly and repeatedly rejected is a usurpation of legislative authority,” deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah said in a statement on Monday.  

“The fact that this occurs at a time when elected representatives in Congress are actively debating this policy only underscores that the district judge has unwisely intervened in the legislative process. We look forward to having this case expeditiously heard by the appeals court and, if necessary, the Supreme Court, where we fully expect to prevail,” he said. 

{mosads}The Supreme Court earlier on Monday announced it would not hear the Trump administration’s challenge to a lower court ruling that blocked it from scaling back DACA. 

DACA permits immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children to work and go to school in the country.  

The Supreme Court could still decide to consider the case when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concludes its review and makes a decision on the program.  

The announcement comes one week before President Trump’s March 5 deadline for Congress to draft legislation to replace the program. 

Congress has made little progress toward reaching an agreement on legislation to replace DACA.