White House Honors “DREAMers” as Illegal Alien Minors Continue to Overwhelm the Border

On Tuesday, the White House hosted a ceremony honoring 10 illegal alien recipients of President Obama’s unilateral Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program. DACA essentially gives illegal aliens who qualify for the DREAM Act—which Congress has repeatedly rejected—a two-year deferral from deportation and work authorization. The White House celebrated these so-called “Champions of Change”  for their “exemplary leadership in their communities.” Alejandro Mayorkas, deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), called these illegal aliens “American for all intents and purposes other than the country where they were born.”

Unsurprisingly, President Obama’s lax immigration enforcement has led to an unprecedented surge in illegal alien minors crossing the Southern border. Indeed, the number of illegal alien minors coming to the U.S. from Central America has grown exponentially since the President announced DACA. Yet, the Administration continues to deny that their refusal to enforce our immigration laws is responsible for the surge in unaccompanied minors. In fact, Central American newspapers are advertising Obama’s policy of not deporting young illegal aliens.

Representative Candice Miller (R-Mich.), chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, blasted Obama for celebrating illegal aliens. “Today’s White House celebration, flaunting the success stories of 10 immigrant children who entered the U.S. illegally, is exactly the type of tone deaf messaging fueling the unprecedented surge of immigrant children being smuggled across our southern border,” Miller charged. “How can we expect to dispel rumors throughout Central America that children who enter America illegally will be allowed to stay, while simultaneously touting the success stories of a few illegal immigrant children granted de facto amnesty by the Administration?”