Not long before the Trump administration announced their decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program instituted by President Obama which protects some 800,000 undocumented young people who were brought to the United States by their parents, MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson spoke with lifelong racist and anti-immigration spokesperson Kris Kobach. Kobach began by saying Obama put DACA into place illegally:
“A president cannot do this unilaterally. You have to have an act of Congress.”
Jackson asked Kobach:
“Why can you have [an anti-Muslim] travel ban unilaterally?”
Kobach:
“There’s already a statute that says the president can withhold admission to any category of people.”
That led Jackson to ask a logical follow-up:
“But if you are relying on Congress, and you say there has to be a legislative fix [for DACA], why do you oppose that legislative fix? You’ve come out and said you’re against Congress doing something about it. What’s your problem with it?”
Instead of responding honestly, Kobach began lying, saying undocumented immigrants were taking low-paying jobs from young people, and then adding:
“Why in the world would we legalize an additional 1.7 million people?”
Jackson was more than ready for Kobach’s economic argument, reminding him:
“There are estimates that the U.S. could lose some $400 billion. You know it’s going to affect Kansas… So, why not keep these people?”
“Ninety-one percent of these Dreamers pay taxes. They’re not relying on the American taxpayer, they’re relying on themselves as well.”
Once again, Kobach resorted to lies, adding a false analogy to this specious argument:
“They are net takers. We all pay some taxes when we buy a pack of gum at the store.”
But Jackson shut down Kobach by reminding him:
“That’s not what we’re talking about.”
The real reason people like Kris Kobach, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and President Trump don’t want to keep Dreamers in the country is very simple: Because they, along with their alt-right, neo-Nazi, KKK supporters, want to impose their brand of white supremacy on this country at any cost.
Featured Image Via MSNBC Screengrab
