Dreamer and Trump supporter defends White House's bid to end DACA
DACA recipient Hilario Yanez says the president wants to help the Dreamer community with a permanent solution.
Hilario Yanez, a Dreamer who was brought to the country illegally as a toddler, told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday that he supports President Trump’s bid to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [DACA] program in favor of broader reform, after a loss in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Speaking with Fox News’ John Roberts on Saturday, Trump said his administration would resubmit plans to end the DACA policy, the Obama-era program offering legal protections to young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.
“I completely understand where the president is coming from,” Yanez said Sunday. “This is a president that’s all about rule of law, but also he is a compassionate leader.”
“I think... he is trying to force Congress to get back to work and do its job,” he continued, adding that “the only way we can really solve DACA is through legislative action, which would require a permanent solution for Dreamers in exchange for a border security package.” He stressed that would be “the best way forward.”
The Supreme Court ruled last Thursday against the Trump administration’s effort to end DACA, affirming that the administration’s decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act [APA], which set out rulemaking procedures for federal agencies.
The Trump administration had argued that the decision to eliminate DACA did not fall under the purview of the APA because DACA itself was merely a decision not to enforce existing law against a certain group of people. The Supreme Court disagreed, noting that “DACA is not simply a non-enforcement policy” because it was an actual program in which people applied to receive a benefit.
“Unfortunately the media has twisted this decision around against the president, to somehow believe that he’s trying to deport all these Dreamers. Instead, he’s trying to find solutions for the Dreamers,” Yanez said. “DACA is a winning issue for this president, for this election coming up.”
Yanez then said he thought Republicans and Democrats “can agree” that “there is a chance and opportunity for to us find a permanent solution.”
He said he hoped that by sharing his story, he could “try to change this narrative that somehow [Trump’s] trying to deport us, which is -- it is not true.”
Yanez said his mom brought him to the U.S. when he was 1 year old, and he grew up homeless without a father.
He said if it were not for his “conservative values” of “faith, family and freedom,” he “would not be here today.”
He continued, “This country has allowed me to live and thrive on the American dream and I’m so thankful and grateful to be part of this country.”
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When asked what he would say to leaders in Congress, Yanez responded, “I would say, ‘Do your job,’ and I think the president is right to put this back on to Congress to say, ‘Let’s get to work.’”
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer, John Roberts and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
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