MY TOP 4 TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS WEEK’S TRUMP-INDUCED DREAMER NIGHTMARE

Jeff Sessions is not only cold, smug and heartless, he also lies. I may have cracked a molar grinding my teeth watching Sessions try not to smile as he gleefully read the statement that essentially ripped the heart out of 800,000 young people. But what struck me the most were the blatant nativist lies and misinformation he spewed. To name just a few:
“DACA…contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border.” Really? So the surge didn’t start well before DACA due to the extreme violence and abject poverty in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala? Or maybe those kids were just clairvoyant, and they saw DACA coming years in advance. If the kids did in fact know about DACA, they would have known that they didn’t qualify unless they had been in the U.S. before 2007.
DACA granted immigrants “benefits, including participation in the Social Security program…” This is patently false, unless by participation you mean paying in to social security with no ability to draw from it for the foreseeable future, if ever. Also, DACA recipients are not eligible for any other public benefits.
DACA denied “jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing those same illegal aliens to take those jobs.” Hmmm. Isn’t unemployment at a near all-time low? Hasn’t it decreased every year since DACA was introduced? Also, why do I still see help wanted signs nearly everywhere I go? Finally, how could you possibly prove this? Shouldn’t you have some sort of factual basis for your assertion?
Trump is even less of a leader than I thought, and I did not give him any credit to begin with. First, he didn’t even have the huevos to be the one to make the announcement rescinding DACA. Instead he sent Sessions, who I’m sure was volunteering with his hand raised high like a third grade class brown-noser. Coward. Second, he punted. Rather than take responsibility and address the issue head on, he passed the buck to congress. That way he can reap all the praise if congress is able to do something, but none of the blame if they fail. He doesn’t risk ruffling the feathers of his 30 percent base, and can even blame congress to those from his base if a Dream Act passes. Rather than take a stand and do the right thing, as a leader would, Trump wrapped himself in bubble wrap.
Trump has no clue what he just did. After feeling the heat from the national response to rescinding DACA, Trump tweeted that if congress was unable to pass anything in six months, he would revisit the issue? I don’t think he even knows what he signed, or what it means to terminate DACA. Does he not realize that he just stated that Obama’s executive order was unconstitutional, thus not valid or legal? So what is he going to do in six months if congress doesn’t act, issue an executive order reinstating DACA? But you just said such an executive order isn’t legal, so…? Also, Trump is telling DACA people they shouldn’t be worried, they will be taken care of, meanwhile, his agency, USCIS, is telling DACA recipients they should use what little time they have left to make plans to leave the U.S. Trump, take a step back and “[l]ook what ya did ya little jerk.” (Borrowed from the mean uncle in Home Alone.) Better yet, read what you sign and think things through before you act.
Dreamers are even more awesome than I thought, and that is saying something. As soon as the initial shock of sadness and uncertainty subsided, the fearless Dreamers took to the streets, airwaves, television channels, and social media to share their stories and support each other. They acted and continue to act with bravery, a unity of purpose, and pride. Hearing more and more of their stories inspire me to be a better American. They are tenacious, ambitious, take nothing for granted, work exceptionally hard and accomplish great things. I hope my kids exhibit these American traits to the same extent as the Dreamers.