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Trump Assured 'DREAMers' They Can 'Rest Easy'

Despite a recent lawsuit that claims a DACA recipient was deported from the country in February.
Drew Schwartz
Brooklyn, US
Photos via the White House Flickr and Flickr user Annette Bernhardt

On Friday, President Donald Trump said immigrants brought to the States illegally as children can "rest easy" knowing his administration won't kick them out of the country, just days after a "DREAMer" sued the government for allegedly deporting him without legal grounds, the Associated Press reports.

Trump has flip-flopped on what to do about DREAMers—those who arrived in the US illegally before they were 16 and are protected from deportation under Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In August, Trump vowed to "immediately terminate" the program, which he called "illegal." But since his election, he's softened, telling the AP Friday that sparing DACA recipients was "a case of heart."

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But on Tuesday, 23-year-old Juan Manuel Montes sued the government after he was allegedly booted from the US despite having recently renewed his DACA status. If true, Montes would be the first DACA recipient to be deported under Trump. In March, ICE agents arrested DREAMer Daniela Vargas after she left a pro-immigration event in Jackson, Mississippi. And later that month, the feds agreed to release DREAMer Daniel Ramirez Medina after holding him in detention for two months.

Still, Trump said Friday his administration is "not after the DREAMers, we are after the criminals." He also said that Montes's case was "a little different than the dreamer case," but it's not clear why that would be.

One thing Trump hasn't wavered on is building a giant wall across our southern border, though he hasn't decided yet where he'll get the $25 billion likely needed to cover the construction cost.

"I want the border wall," Trump told the AP Friday. "My base definitely wants the border wall."

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