Jeb Bush deems a DACA repeal 'unconscionable'

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published 1 September 2017

In a Facebook post, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on Friday deemed it "unconscionable to repeal" the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program without a legislative solution in hand. With President Trump toying with doing exactly that, Bush emphasized the importance of providing DREAMers with "certainty."

"Congress must act urgently to provide DREAMers certainty, through the BRIDGE Act and other legislative options that provide a path to legal status for children brought to the United States illegally," Bush wrote. The BRIDGE Act, which has not been passed into law, is a bipartisan measure that proposes allowing those who have received work authorization "temporary relief from deportation."

Bush is one of many to weigh in as Trump is rumored to be contemplating the end of DACA, which has granted temporary work and residency status to roughly 780,000 DREAMers, or undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before age 16. A group of 300 corporate executives is publicly pushing to save the program, and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have both indicated they would disagree with Trump if he were to end the program.