Koch-supported group pressures Congress to protect DACA kids

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from the Trump administration for approval of its plan to shutter the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on March 5, which means some pieces of the program will remain active even in the absence of congressional action.

But DACA recipients, who were illegally brought to the United States as children, are also finding help in another quarter. The LIBRE Initiative, a policy and activism shop supported by the Koch brothers' network, has launched a six-figure campaign to pressure Congress to make DACA protections permanent. The group is running online advertising that touts these young immigrants, also known as DREAMers, as "Americans and patriots," The Washington Post reports, "and incorporates messages of economic and family values as an appeal to conservative audiences."

"This situation has an expiration date. We can't afford to kick the can down the road," Daniel Garza, LIBRE Initiative president, told the Post. He supports "policy that allows DACA DREAMers to achieve their dreams but also strengthens America. We are all in on getting a reform that is going to allow that to happen."

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Polling shows there is near-universal support for permitting DACA recipients to stay in the United States.