‘It’s Just Much Different Than That’
President Donald Trump scolded Republican lawmakers over DACA Thursday afternoon, literally shaking his finger at them and warning them to not call DACA recipients “Dreamers.”
“Nearly seven in 10 Americans support an immigration reform package that includes a permanent solution on DACA,” Trump told Republicans at a retreat in West Virginia. “I’ve been hearing about DACA for so many years. Some people call it ‘Dreamers.’ It’s not Dreamers. Don’t fall into that trap,” the president chastised.Â
“It’s just much different than that,” Trump insisted.
“And I said the other night,” at the State of the Union, “we have dreamers too, we have dreamers in this country too,” as if Dreamers are not dreamers, and are not part of America.Â
“We can’t forget our dreamers – I have a lot of dreamers here,” he continued, reinforcing an apparent belief he has no responsibility to Dreamers.
“But DACA, we want to take care of DACA,” Trump concluded – again not speaking about the people but about the politics – before launching an attack on Democrats.
DACA recipients are called “Dreamers” because of the DREAM act, which Democrats have been trying to pass since 2001. The DREAM Act stands for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act.
Ironically, it was a bipartisan bill first introduced by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
Minutes earlier Trump praised Senator Hatch, claiming the retiring Republican had told him he was a better president that Washington and Lincoln. Hatch had said “could be.”
Â
Â