Florida Rep. Carlos Gim\u00e9nez (R) on Sunday said President Trump should seek to \u201cnormalize\u201d longtime U.S. immigrants as his administration grapples with the fallout of mass deportation efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody wants criminals to be here. I don\u2019t think anybody wants gang members to be here. I think that people with active deportation orders, yeah, OK. But those that have been here for years, DACA is a great example of that, OK? And those that have been here for years, that have been working, are part of the community, that are part of the economy, we need to find a way to normalize them,\u201d the Florida Republican said during a Sunday appearance on CBS News\u2019s \u201cFace the Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals\u00a0(DACA) is a U.S. immigration policy established in 2012 that protects from deportation eligible immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally after being brought over into the country as children<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t necessarily mean that they\u2019re going to be citizens at the end of the day, but to normalize them, so they can come out of the shadows, pay taxes, and then, you know, live their life without having, you know, fear of somebody coming up and \u2026 taking them away after 20-something years and separating from their children that they\u2019ve had during that time, and so we have to find a solution,\u201d Gim\u00e9nez added.<\/p>\n
DACA recipients are granted lawful status and work authorization, both of which must be renewed every two years.<\/p>\n
They are one example of immigrants here in the U.S. who are facing uncertainty about the long-term future of their legal status as residents in the country as the Trump administration increases removal efforts for noncitizens nationwide.<\/p>\n
Gim\u00e9nez is urging Democrats and Republicans to work together to provide a solution for long-term residents who would like to continue to stay in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that the solution could be bipartisan, but it also seems, you know, when the Democrats were in control, it wasn\u2019t, it didn\u2019t happen. When we were in control, it didn\u2019t happen. It\u2019s got to happen,\u201d Gim\u00e9nez said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop kicking this can down the road. We got to have the debate. Everything, you know, whatever comes out of it, I\u2019m sure, you know, the Democrats won\u2019t like 100 percent of it, the Republicans won\u2019t like 100 percent of it. And if that\u2019s the case, if that\u2019s the final solution, it\u2019s probably the good solution,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
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