Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will support President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that he reportedly plans to announce Tuesday, according to a statement from Graham’s office.
But only if the reported six-month delay to ending the program is put in place to give Congress time to come up with a legislative solution for the program, he said.
“If President Trump chooses to cancel the DACA program and give Congress six months to find a legislative solution, I will be supportive of such a position,” Graham said in a statement Monday. “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”
Politico was first to report that Trump is planning to announce Tuesday that he is ending DACA in six months. The program grants legal status to undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
Graham said he and other members of Congress are already working on bipartisan legislation to help the “dreamers,” as the undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors have been labeled.
“I have introduced legislation to solve this problem along with Senator Durbin,” he said. “I look forward to working with President Trump and my colleagues in Congress to find a fair solution to this difficult problem.”
Former President Barack Obama launched the program through an executive order in 2012.
