Herbert among 11 governors in tripartisan plea to save DACA

December 20, 2017 Utah Channel 3

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.

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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