What to do with young immigrants brought to U.S. illegally?
DACA beneficiaries and their supporters gather at the CASA Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Maryland, in September 2017 to get legal information on the announcement that the program is to be rescinded. Credit: Washington Post/Bonnie Jo Mount
After reading that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman plan to sue the federal government over the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, I reeled in disbelief [“State is ready to sue to protect ‘Dreamers,’ ” News, Sept. 5].
I’m outraged that our governor wants to spend my tax dollars to protect the rights of those who are here in our country illegally. Schneiderman has the audacity to state, “Dreamers are Americans in every way. They played by the rules . . . and they’ve earned the right to stay.”
What message does that send to those who wait patiently for the legal right to come to our country? I’m truly sorry that these Dreamers live in fear of one day being deported, but the blame doesn’t lie with the end of DACA. It sits squarely at the feet of their parents who brought them here illegally.
Jeffery Liuzzi, Shirley
Participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should not be the ones to pay the price for a Congress that has refused to do its job and act on immigration reform [“Dems: Deal on DACA,” News, Sept. 14]. Congress should have addressed this issue 20 years ago.
Holly Gordon, Bay Shore
As the grandmother of a U.S. Marine, I find it reprehensible that Dreamers who are deemed fit enough to serve in our armed forces would now be considered disposable.
How many of these young people served in dangerous locations in the Middle East? How many incurred injuries or even died as a result of their service? How incredibly hypocritical it would be to end protections for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals participants.
Far from “Making America Great Again,” our nation would suffer irreparably from our lack of compassion.
Nancy Giglio, Hampton Bays
Making children pay for the sins of their parents is as un-American as it gets.
These children and 20-somethings embody what we wish for from immigrants. They had no choice in the decision to come to America, but in many cases, they made the most of their opportunities. They went to school. They became doctors and lawyers. They started businesses. Many have served in our military. What happens to their achievements now?
What the president doesn’t want to admit is that he is holding Dreamers for ransom. This is his bargaining chip to force the left to buy him his border wall and pass his budget.
If I’m a child in the car when my father robs a bank, does that make me a criminal as well?
Robert Broder, Stony Brook
