Trump boasts of including DACA in immigration reforms, Internet says he's taking credit for what he tried to stop
How can a day pass without President Donald Trump and his foot in the mouth moment? Trump's latest foot in the mouth comes from the statements he made during an interview with Spanish-language TV network Telemundo. In the interview, Trump made some big claims which immediately irked the people on the internet to no end.
During the interview on July 10, Trump made tall claims of his plans to sign an executive order on immigration in the coming few weeks, which would pave the road for citizenship for migrants who arrived in the United States illegally as children. Trump added that one of the aspects of his order would pertain to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a programme initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama that protects immigrants who came to the country as children from deportation.
He said, "I'm going to do a big executive order... And I'm going to make DACA a part of it. We're going to have a road to citizenship." Trump also added that the Supreme Court's ruling on DACA has given him the power to sign the executive order.
Twitter was immediately buzzing with confusion over Trump's claims. Many people questioned Trump's power to sign the 'big executive order'. A user tweeted, "Trump will give a path to citizenship tor DACA kids after the SCOTUS told him they would NOT reverse DACA, which is what that case was about. Now he says the court 'gave me permission' to give them a path to citizenship. Taking credit for what he tried to stop. Scumbaggery."
Another user wrote, "Trump told Telemundo the following about how he is going to protect DACA recipients: 'I'm going to be signing a very major immigration bill as an executive order, which the Supreme Court now, because of the DACA decision, has given me the power to do that.' This makes no sense."
RAICES, a not-for-profit legal immigration service based out of Texas, broke down Trump's statement and explained in a tweet how Trump doesn't have the power to give citizenship to DACA recipients. In a tweet, they explained, "Let us break down for you how the U.S. Government actually works, given that the President is clueless. Trump can't give citizenship to DACA recipients with an executive order. Only Congress can. What he just told @TelemundoNews is false. He can't legally do that. Period."
Several users felt that Trump's latest claims were made to attract a new set of voters. A user commented, "Donald Trump has spent 3 1/2 years holding hands with Stephen Miller as they abused DACA recipients. Now, in the last few months before the election, he's suddenly going to help them? Sounds like just another version of 'MAGA loves Black people' to me." Another said, "Trump is desperately in need for other voters like Latinos, blacks, & independents because he can't win with his base only. Trump would say & do anything to get these voters until after Nov 3rd then, he would say DACA? 'I barely knew them'."