Trump Demands Dems Sacrifice Some Immigrants for Others

FEATURING ROBERTO FLORES – Just days after the last deadline for DACA Registrants to renew their status passed Donald Trump released a lengthy and hardline wish list for immigration reform as a condition for passing the DREAM Act. DACA, an Obama-era program allowed young undocumented immigrants to defer deportation and work in the US but Trump’s promise to his base to deport all immigrants has upended hundreds of thousands of lives.

In exchange for considering the DREAM Act, which would formalize DACA recipients’ status, Trump wants Democrats in Congress to pass a funding bill to build his border wall with Mexico, hire 10,000 new border patrol agents, increase the already onerous requirements for refugees seeking asylum, deny federal funding to “sanctuary cities,” require the use of the e-Verify database in hiring, and end family immigration pathways. In effect Trump’s demands require sacrificing most other undocumented immigrants in exchange for the safety and security of Dreamers.

Democrats have responded saying the list was a non-starter and have threatened the possibility of a government shut down.

Roberto Flores, Professor of Chicano Studies at Cal State LA, long-time Chicano activist based in Los Angeles, and founder of East Side Café, a space in El Sereno that was in part inspired by the Zapatistas.