Why Congress won't save DACA

And how a relatively small band of hard-line conservatives have thwarted America's majority on this immigration program

The Capitol building.
(Image credit: Kristoffer Tripplaar / Alamy Stock Photo)

If America's government were functioning properly, the Trump administration deciding to discontinue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program started by President Obama in June 2012 (over the strenuous objection of Republicans in Congress) would be no big deal. After all, DACA is very popular. So in a functional government, Congress would just step in and pass a bill that reflected public opinion on the issue, and President Trump would likely be forced to sign it.

But Congress is unlikely to do any such thing — because America's representative institutions are horribly broken.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.