President Trump told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that "DREAMers," young immigrants who were brought to America illegally as children, should not fear deportation because they are not being targeted. DREAMers can "rest easy," the president said, because his administration is "not after the DREAMers; we are after the criminals."
The DREAMer label comes from the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which has not passed at the federal level, despite repeated introductions in Congress since 2001, but is implemented in modified forms in some states.
On Tuesday, a 23-year-old man named Juan Manuel Montes, a DREAMer, sued the Trump administration for deporting him earlier this year. Montes appears to have had an active Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, which should have prevented deportation. Trump told the AP Montes is "a little different than the DREAMer case," but did not say why.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashionIn the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Crossword: September 13, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: September 13, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Koreans detained in US Hyundai raid return homeSpeed Read Over 300 Koreans were detained at the plant last week
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raidsIn the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
