Herbert among 11 governors in tripartisan plea to save DACA

In this September 2017 file photo, supporters of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, chant slogans and hold signs while joining a Labor Day rally in downtown Los Angeles, Sept. 4, 2017 | Associated Press photo by Richard Vogel, St. George News

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Eleven governors, including Utah’s Gary Herbert, are urging Congress to save an imperiled program that protects young immigrants from deportation.

Herbert joins fellow Republican, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and eight others in writing congressional leaders Wednesday that their cities and towns are seeing more than 100 young people lose protective status every day while the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is in limbo.

Other governors signing the letter were Democrats from Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania and North Carolina; Republicans from Nevada, Massachusetts and Vermont; and Alaska’s independent governor.

In Utah, Herbert is not alone. In September, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch joined Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and James Lankford of Oklahoma in introducing the “Solution for Undocumented Children through Careers, Employment, Education, and Defending Our Nation (SUCCEED) Act,” which was designed to provide a track for these undocumented persons to qualify for conditional permanent resident, or CPR, status.

Read more: Hatch supports new GOP ‘Dreamer’ bill offering path to citizenship

President Donald Trump phased out the DACA program earlier this year, leaving Congress to negotiate a permanent replacement.

DACA has protected about 800,000 people brought to the U.S. illegally as children or who came with families who overstayed visas. Hundreds of thousands are now college-age.

These are young people who are stuck in limbo,” Hatch said during a press conference in September. “It’s not fair to them. Many of them have proven themselves as decent, honorable people who would make great citizens in this country.”

Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.

St. George News reporter MORI KESSLER contributed to portions of the report pertaining to Sen. Orrin Hatch.

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Copyright 2017 The Associated Press as AP portions. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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8 Comments

  • aaron December 20, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    This is one of the many reasons why I think the lds Church is so wrong. It’s on The wrong path with all this bleeding heart save the immigrants crap even though all this DACA crap completely flys in the face of the constitution. Of the United States.

  • Not_So_Much December 21, 2017 at 8:31 am

    President Trump is going in the right direction.

  • mshaw December 21, 2017 at 9:07 am

    It’s my opinion that we get rid of them. If they was not here that Bettina lady would never been hit by a car driven by a d.a.c.a child’s father. Herbert needs to go he is bad for the state of utah he is becoming a Democrat. Why does he not listen to the people. WE DO NOT WANT THEM HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • comments December 21, 2017 at 10:02 am

    regardless of trumps talk against illegal immigration, the republican establishment loves having an overabundant supply of cheap labor that the illegals and their legal children bring into the economy. When an overabundant supply of cheap labor exists they can drive wages down to rock bottom and increase profits. The mormon church loves illegals because a lot of them do pay tithing, and at the end of the day the LDS church is about the $$$ before all else. I feel sorry for a lot of these kids, but their parents have no legal right to be here, and there are millions upon millions of them in the US, and they do drive down wages and lower the standard of living for citizens and legals.

    • comments December 21, 2017 at 10:04 am

      oh, I actually forgot DACA is about the kids who are also illegals.

  • stgeorgereader December 21, 2017 at 11:19 am

    Congress – you don’t represent illegal aliens. Remember Congress and President Trump -These illegal aliens are DACAg giftees not recipients. Obama gave them a gift of an illegal program that included social security cards, driver licenses, work permits, and deferred deportation.
    Enforce immigration laws. No amnesty. No citizenship. No work permits. Start deporting the illegal aliens/DACAs now.
    The DACA program is only a small portion of the number of illegal aliens that will become the majority of voters in the US. Congressional officials didn’t discuss the future ramifications on jobs, environmental effects, etc. on that many more people in the US. Ask the taxpayers what they think another 40 million illegal aliens that become citizens will do to the economy and their children and grandchildren’s future employment in competition with the 20-36 year old DACAs and other illegal aliens. Only 32,000 out of 800,000 DACAs have a four year college degree. From federal information – 160,000 DACAs dropped out of school. Another 160,000 have a high school diploma or a GED but no plans to go to college.

  • utahdiablo December 22, 2017 at 11:39 am

    Herbert would love to make Utah a offical Sanctuary State, but cannot do that without getting recalled….but you don’t speak for us, the law abiding hard working American citizens who want this madness to end……So, No to DACA and get the illegals out.

  • Kyle L. December 22, 2017 at 5:54 pm

    I think we should do what is best for these families and send them back to spend time with the rest of their family in Mexico. I would hate for them to grow up and join gangs, turn to drugs, have teenage pregnancies, form hate groups, and hate average Americans because they do not have a family base to turn to. LOL

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