Washington—This morning, the Trump administration announced it would end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on March 5, 2018. As The Heritage Foundation wrote at the time, "implementing broad swathes of that proposed [DREAM] act by fiat ... is wrong and sets a dangerous precedent." Heritage Action released the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Michael A. Needham:
"The Trump administration deserves credit for beginning the process of slowly unraveling the unlawful DACA program put in place by the previous administration. It should serve as a reminder for Republicans and Democrats alike that executive action can be reversed by executive action. Moving forward, it is imperative the executive and legislative branches work together to build a national consensus for an immigration policy that makes sense for 320 million Americans, not only a sympathetic group put into an untenable situation because former President Obama illegally bypassed Congress."
Prior to the official announcement, The Heritage Foundation wrote that "Enforcing our immigration laws encourages people to come to the U.S. legally and discourages illegal immigration. ... DACA is the pinnacle of non-enforcement; not only does it protect illegal immigrants from deportation, it provides benefits that by law are reserved for American citizens and legal immigrants."