The Memo: GOP fears damage from Trump's move on DACA
BY NIALL STANAGE - 09/06/17 06:00 AM EDT
President Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program could cause the Republican Party grave damage with Latino voters, according to experts both inside and outside the GOP.
Trump did better with Hispanics in last November’s presidential election than most expected, avoiding a catastrophic loss with the voting bloc despite his hard-line rhetoric on immigration and his signature promise to build a southern border wall. But the decision to end DACA — a program put in place by then-President Barack Obama in 2012 — could prove a watershed moment, some say.
“It is the topic of conversation in every Latino household,” said Luis Alvarado, a Los Angeles-based Republican strategist. “If this energy can be corralled and focused against Republicans in the 2018 elections, Republicans are going to suffer great losses.”
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) had last week urged Trump not to end the program. On Tuesday, Arizona’s two Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, criticized him for doing so. Meanwhile, centrist GOP lawmakers including Rep. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.) are pushing a legislative fix.
Notably, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, threw his support behind the DREAM Act on Tuesday. Gardner is now a co-sponsor of the proposed legislation, which would go even further than DACA, providing young illegal immigrants with a path to citizenship.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/349332-gop-fears-damage-from-trumps-move-on-daca
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