Trump Says DACA Is ‘Dead’ and Calls on Mexico to Enforce Border Security

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared Monday that a program shielding a group of young immigrants from deportation — which he moved to scrap last fall — is “dead,” and then blamed Democrats for failing to salvage the protections.

“DACA is dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon,” Trump said in one of a series of morning tweets on the matter. It was his second consecutive day of using Twitter to rail against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, charging that it was being exploited amid lax border security.

Later, surrounded by children on the South Lawn of the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll festivities, Trump lashed out again about the program, saying that Democrats had abandoned the immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children and have benefited from DACA.

“The Democrats have really let them down, they’ve really let them down,” Trump said in response to a question shouted by a reporter, as young children crowded around him at a picnic table where he was signing their artwork. “They had this great opportunity, and Democrats have really let them down — it’s a shame.”

“Now people are taking advantage of DACA,” Trump went on. “It should have never happened.”

The president was venting about the failure of bipartisan talks to enshrine DACA’s protections in law. The negotiations became necessary after Trump moved last fall to end the program, which had been created unilaterally by former President Barack Obama.

Those deliberations have gone nowhere despite Trump’s stated willingness to provide a path to citizenship for nearly 2 million immigrants who could be considered eligible for the program. Democrats offered last month to provide $25 billion for the border wall that Trump advocates, in exchange for such an extension, but White House officials rejected the deal, demanding additional measures to curb legal and illegal immigration.

But in referring to people “taking advantage of DACA,” his advisers said, the president was also alluding to a misperception perpetrated by human smugglers — and believed by many Central American migrants — that as part of its efforts to salvage the program, Congress may soon agree to legislation that allows people who cross illegally into the United States to remain without consequences. The notion has taken hold during a season when migration flows from Central America to the United States typically accelerate, according to officials familiar with Trump’s thinking, who described it on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to do so on the record.

The White House and the Department of Homeland Security lashed out in February against a bipartisan proposal to codify DACA protections that they said would have eviscerated immigration enforcement for people arriving in the United States before June 2018. The measure included a provision directing the department to prioritize the removal of “criminal aliens,” people posing a national security threat and people entering the country illegally after June 30.

Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, briefed Trump on the migration situation last week after returning from a trip to Mexico to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto and other top Mexican officials, the advisers said, and Trump was concerned by what he heard.

That was part of the reason Trump spent part of his Easter Sunday complaining on Twitter about “caravans” of immigrants heading north toward the U.S.-Mexico border, they said. But the posts also came after the Fox News Channel, the president’s favorite, reported on a group of hundreds of Central Americans that has been traveling through Mexico toward the United States, where some hope to seek asylum or sneak across the border.

On Monday, Trump again referred to “large ‘Caravans’ of people” headed toward the United States, and repeated his calls for Mexico to enforce border security laws and prevent immigrants from coming to the United States illegally.

Trump’s tweets come a little more than a week after he grudgingly signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill that did not include funding for the border wall, prompting bitter complaints from some conservatives who have criticized him for abandoning his campaign promises of tougher border security. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter has been critical of Trump, arguing that he has been deserting his base on the matter. Trump also tweeted Monday that Mexico “is making a fortune” on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mexico’s foreign secretary, Luis Videgaray Caso, responded on Twitter on Sunday and defended his country’s cooperation with the United States on border security.

The president on Monday blamed Democrats for weak immigration policy and called on Congress to act, tweeting that “our country is being stolen.” The House and the Senate — both controlled by Republicans — are in recess and return next week.

The president’s position on DACA is a moving target. Trump ended the program last year, but courts have blocked his decision. He has also said that he would sign a bipartisan proposal to protect the young immigrants, but he regularly threatens Democrats that there will be no deal.

Less than two weeks ago, Trump tweeted, “Remember DACA, the Democrats abandoned you (but we will not)!”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that the president had made offers about the immigration policy.

“He wanted to see something get done, and Democrats refused to actually put something on the table or work with the president to get anything done,” Sanders said. “They wanted to use DACA recipients as political pawns.”

Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., said on Sunday that the president’s announcement on DACA comes at a bad time. “The Presidents DACA announcement couldn’t have come at a worst time,” he posted on Twitter. “Easter is a day for many to rejoice and come together — not to put more anxiety on young people. It’s time for Members on both sides of the aisle to join forces and find a permanent solution for DACA recipients.”