Earlier in the week, Trump had ended temporary protected status for 200,000 people from El Salvador, effective September 2019; many of them have been in the United States for 20 years. In November, Trump had halted temporary protected status for 59,000 Haitians, who are still reeling from the earthquake and cholera epidemic that have devastated that country.
Trump's use of racist language in regard to immigrants -- including those from Haiti -- is, of course, nothing new. The New York Times reported Trump's comments during a meeting in June 2017:
"Haiti had sent 15,000 people. They 'all have AIDS,' [Trump] grumbled, according to one person who attended the meeting and another person who was briefed about it by a different person who was there. Forty thousand had come from Nigeria, Mr. Trump added. Once they had seen the United States, they would never 'go back to their huts' in Africa, recalled two officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss a sensitive conversation in the Oval Office."
Democrats insist that reaching a deal to protect the Dreamers is a prerequisite to securing their votes to continue funding the government. Trump blames the Democrats for the impending government shutdown, tweeting, "DACA is probably dead because the Democrats don't really want it, they just want to talk and take desperately needed money away from our military."
But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) told the New York Times, "To believe that you can successfully blame Democrats for a shutdown over the DACA debate is naà ¯ve." Graham, who also attended the controversial meeting, confirmed to Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) that Trump said "shithole countries." Graham said he had confronted Trump about the president's words during the meeting.
The deadline to fund the government is Friday, January 19. Trump's racist tantrum has put not only DACA, but also the entire government, in jeopardy.
Trump has appealed Alsup's ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. It remains to be seen whether the appellate courts or Congress will ultimately save DACA.
Original in Truthout(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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