Jeff Sessions: DACA Is Being Rescinded

WASHINGTON, DC — Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday morning that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, an Obama-era policy protecting about 800,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as minors, will be rescinded.

Sessions did not take any questions after delivering his remarks. Initially, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders seemed to suggest that the announcement would be delivered by the White House, but instead the task was given to the Justice Department. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Starting on Wednesday, the administration will not accept any new applications for DACA. Registration in the program lasts for two years. Anyone whose registration expires in the next six months will have until Oct. 5 to apply for another two-year extension. But after DACA recipients' registrations expire outside the six-month window, they will not be able to reapply. This means, in part, that the hundreds of thousands of people who received work permits under the program will be forced to leave their jobs once their registrations expire.

Watch: The Trump Administration Just Announced The End Of DACA

"We cannot admit everyone who would like to come here," Sessions said. "It's just that simple."

He criticized the policy as "executive amnesty" and "overreach," and he said that it was only implemented after Congress failed to pass a similar program through the usual legislative process. He went on to say that the program contributed to the child migrant crisis on the Mexican border, and accused recipients of DACA of stealing American jobs.

In a statement issued from the White House Press Office after Session's press conference, Trump said, "I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws."

He continued: "We will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion – but through the lawful Democratic process – while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve. We must also have heart and compassion for unemployed, struggling, and forgotten Americans."

Reports have suggested for weeks that Trump was deliberating the future of the program. A group of Republican state attorneys general have forced the president's hand on the policy, which Trump previously said he would revoke immediately. If Trump refused to take action to curtail the program, the attorneys general would have sued the administration in opposition to the program — a case many observers expect they would win. Sessions is a longtime hardliner on immigration, and reports suggest that the attorney general was a strong advocate for ending DACA behind the scene.

Jim Acosta of CNN reported that administration officials said in a background call that DACA recipients would be treated like "any other person in the country illegally" after their status was rescinded.

Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted out encouragement to lawmakers to provide a legislative solution for the program's recipients: "Congress, get ready to do your job - DACA!"

House Speaker Paul Ryan released a statement in response to Sessions' announcement, urging Congress to act to solve the problem DACA was designed to address.

"At the heart of this issue are young people who came to this country through no fault of their own, and for many of them it’s the only country they know," he said. "It is my hope that the House and Senate, with the president’s leadership, will be able to find consensus on a permanent legislative solution that includes ensuring that those who have done nothing wrong can still contribute as a valued part of this great country.”

Nancy Pelosi, House minority leader, asked for a vote on the the Dream Act, which would preserve protections for DACA recipients, "without delay."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer denounced the administration's decision on Twitter, writing, "Americans know how heartless ending #DACA is; ripping apart families & telling ppl who have worked hard to become Americans they must leave."

Watch the replay of Sessions' press conference.

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Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images