DACA: Trump expected to end 'Dreamers' immigration program

close

Video

President Trump set to announce DACA decision

Author Lauren Leader-Chivee and NYC GOP Councilman Joe Borelli join the debate

President Trump is expected on Tuesday to announce the end of an Obama-era program allowing undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children to stay.

After the announcement, Congress will have a six-month window to act, sources tell Fox News.

On Monday, the eve of Trump’s expected announcement, congressional Democrats and Republicans continued to weighed in on the issue.

Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez, D-Ill., called on House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to allow Congress to vote on the issue.

“He needs to stand up to Donald Trump, stand up to Breitbart (news), and stand up to the opponents of immigration in his own Republican Conference to bring up a bill and let the House vote and let the majority rule,” he said.

South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said he backs Trump’s purported announcement but also suggested Congress take matters into its own hands.

“I will be supportive of such a position,” said Graham, who is part of bipartisan legislation on the issue. “I have always believed DACA was a presidential overreach.

"However, I equally understand the plight of the Dream Act kids who -- for all practical purposes know no country other than America. If President Trump makes this decision we will work to find a legislative solution to their dilemma.”

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program was established in 2012 to protected young immigrants who came to the country as children without legal status.

About 800,000 people have signed up for the program.

Supporters of the program say those protected now fear of deportation. And they say, along with some critics of the program, that leaving such people in uncertainty is too cruel.

According to a report from the Center for American Progress and FWD.us, ending DACA will have a massive economic impact, a statistic DACA critics dispute.

The report states that 91 percent of DACA recipients are employed, and removing them from the work force would put 700,000 people out of jobs. Replacing them would cost $3.4 billion, the report also states.

Ryan said Friday that Trump should keep the program and let lawmakers decide.

Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio said he hopes Congress can “work on a way to deal with this issue and solve it through legislation.”

The White House said Friday that Trump is "in the process of finalizing and will make a decision Tuesday  and that he “loves children and wants to make sure this decision is done correctly."

Fox News' Serafin Gomez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.