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The DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) began 12 years ago under then-President Barack Obama, but Joe Biden has since expanded the benefits to recipients. On May 6, he announced they could enroll in Obamacare for healthcare benefits. Earlier this month, the commander-in-chief spoke of a plan that would fast-track certain illegal immigrants, those who have been in the country for at least ten years and are married to a US citizen. But there’s a problem; according to a new report, many of those approved for DACA had arrest warrants, some for major crimes.
A US Citizens and Immigration Services (USCIS) report revealed that between 2012 and 2019, the first five years of the program, nearly 80,000 illegal migrants with prior arrest records were given DACA status. The data showed that, of the 888,818 requestors, 765,166 were approved. This included 79,398 applicants with an arrest record, or 10.38% of those seeking the status. Those who were denied accounted for 77,833 people, which included 30,132 with arrests, or 38.71%.
Here is a breakdown of arrest records of the migrants released into the country during that time:
- 25,300 for driving-related crimes not associated with driving while under the influence (DUI)
- Close to 13,000 for immigration-related offenses, both civil and criminal
- Nearly 8,000 for theft and larceny
- Almost 7,000 for drug-related
- More than 4,200 for DUI
- More than 3,400 for battery
- More than 3,300 for assault
- More than 3,000 for obstruction, false claim, and fabrication
To make matters worse, according to USCIS, 41 illegal migrants were given DACA status even though they had been arrested more than ten times. Another 963 had been arrested five times, and 15,482 were arrested twice.
Most of these DACA recipients with arrest records were natural citizens of Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru. The majority of these individuals lived in three states: California, Illinois, and Texas.
And remember, this was just during the first five years of the program.
In the Polls
In July 2022, an Economist/YouGov poll asked the question: “In general, do you think immigration makes the U.S. better off or worse off, or does it not make much difference.” The survey also separated respondents by voter registration.
Of the registered voters, 35% thought immigration made the US worse off, 34% believed it made the country better, 20% believed there wasn’t much of a difference, and 11% were unsure. “Looking just at those registered voters, however, two things were clear: (1) a plurality of the electorate had turned on immigration; and (2) 55 percent of registered voters in this “nation of immigrants” had either a dour or neutral view of immigration itself,” Citizens for Immigration Studies (CIS) explained.
The same question was asked again in June 2024, and the outlook was worse:
- Worse off: 42%
- Better off: 32%
- Doesn’t make much difference: 16%
- Not sure: 10%
The reason voters see the situation in an even worse light today is clear, according to CIS: “Americans see the adverse impacts of illegal immigration in cities and towns across the Republic under Biden, and they don’t like it.”
Furthermore, in the 2022 poll, just 4% of poll takers felt immigration was a “most important issue,” tied for eighth place with issues such as guns and crimes. The leading concerns at that time were climate change and healthcare. In the 2024 poll, however, immigration is the second-leading issue among voters at 16%, trailing inflation by just four points. It even leads abortion by seven points and climate change by eight.
Notable Quotes
The late Barbara Jordan, a Democrat and civil rights advocate who became the first black woman from the South to be elected to the US House of Representatives (Texas 1972), and who was also appointed by then-President Bill Clinton to chair the US Commission on Immigration Reform, warned about illegal immigration years ago. She wrote:
“If we cannot control illegal immigration, we cannot sustain our national interest in legal immigration. Those who come here illegally, and those who hire them, will destroy the credibility of our immigration policies and their implementation. In the course of that, I fear, they will destroy our commitment to immigration itself.
“For immigration to serve our national interest, it must be lawful. There are people who argue that some illegal aliens contribute to our economy because they work, pay taxes, send their children to our schools, and in all respects except one, obey the law. Let me be clear: that is not enough.”
What will next week bring us in Open Borders America?
