Media, Law & Policy

The White House And Congress Are Passing DACA Around Like It Is A Political Hot Potato

Tuesday, September 5, 2017, By Sawyer Kamman
Elizabeth Cohen, associate professor of political science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and a researcher of immigration and citizenship, offered remarks ahead of the impending announcement that the Trump administration plans to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration (DACA) policy.
“The White House and Congress are passing DACA around like it is a political hot potato. This is a mistake. DACA is approved of by the rank and file of both major political parties and we have reliable evidence that it is good for both citizens and immigrants alike,” said Cohen.
“There are lessons to be learned from the last time the country decided to seal its borders to immigrants it deemed undesirable. In 1924, Congress passed the National Origins Quota Act, severely limiting immigration from southern and eastern European countries, and effectively halting the arrival of the immigrants who sought entry into the US,” said Cohen. “Like now, business leaders and immigrant advocacy organizations sought to oppose this action. However, they failed. And, like now, nativist elements of the population celebrated when any restrictionist measures were enacted. The consequences of immigration restriction were not desirable for those who celebrated it back then. Just as now it is amply clear from all the data we have on DACA that this program benefits its recipients and opponents.”
Prof. Cohen is available to speak to media via phone, email, Skype, or LTN studio. Please contact Ellen James Mbuqe, director of news and PR at Syracuse University, at ejmbuqe@syr.edu or 315.443.1897 or Keith Kobland, media manager at Syracuse University, at kkobland@syr.edu or 315.443.9038.