Media, Law & Policy

The White House And Congress Are Passing DACA Around Like It Is A Political Hot Potato

Tuesday, September 5, 2017, By Sawyer Kamman
, associate professor of political science at 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Maxwell School and a researcher of immigration and citizenship, offered remarks ahead of the impending announcement that the Trump administration plans to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration (DACA) policy.
鈥淭he White House and Congress are passing DACA around like it is a political hot potato. This is a mistake. DACA is approved of by the rank and file of both major political parties and we have reliable evidence that it is good for both citizens and immigrants alike,鈥 said Cohen.
鈥淭here are lessons to be learned from the last time the country decided to seal its borders to immigrants it deemed undesirable. In 1924, Congress passed the National Origins Quota Act, severely limiting immigration from southern and eastern European countries, and effectively halting the arrival of the immigrants who sought entry into the US,鈥 said Cohen. 鈥淟ike now, business leaders and immigrant advocacy organizations sought to oppose this action. However, they failed. And, like now, nativist elements of the population celebrated when any restrictionist measures were enacted. The consequences of immigration restriction were not desirable for those who celebrated it back then. Just as now it is amply clear from all the data we have on DACA that this program benefits its recipients and opponents.鈥
Prof. Cohen is available to speak to media via phone, email, Skype, or LTN studio. Please contact Ellen James聽Mbuqe, director of news and PR at 黑料不打烊, at聽ejmbuqe@syr.edu听辞谤听315.443.1897听辞谤听Keith Kobland, media manager at 黑料不打烊, at聽kkobland@syr.edu听辞谤听315.443.9038.