Politics

John Kelly Has Long Asked Congress To Fix DACA Legislatively

Getty Images/AFP/ SAUL LOEB

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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White House chief of staff John Kelly is increasingly looking like a key culprit behind President Trump’s newfound support of legislative amnesty.

Kelly advocated for Congress to pass a solution to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program when he served as Secretary of Homeland Security.

“I’m the best thing that happened to DACA…. it is still on the books,” Kelly said during a March meeting with House Democrats, according to a Politico report. He reportedly added, “If you don’t like the law we are enforcing, and I don’t like many of them, please, please, please change the law.”

This closed-door meeting was not the only time he made his wish clear that Congress should fix the DACA program that protects roughly 800,000 illegal immigrants from deportation. (RELATED: Amnesty Could Be Trump’s First Major Legislative Accomplishment)

“You’ve got to solve this problem,” Kelly stated during a June Congressional hearing. “I’m not going to let the Congress off the hook. You’ve got to solve it.”

In another hearing, he said, “I am hoping frankly because there is bipartisan support … for doing something about DACA legally, legislatively.”

After Trump announced his decision to rescind DACA with a six month delay, Democratic Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez claimed Kelly, a retired Marine, was a “disgrace to the uniform.”

In response to this, Kelly cited his prior pleading with Congress.

“During my time at DHS – from 20 Jan until this moment – I have met with hundreds of members on both sides of the hill … My [message] always was ‘I have bought you time to do something on DACA.’ I begged and pleaded with them. They did exactly nothing,” Kelly told Fox News.

In addition to Kelly’s vocal support for Congress to act on amnesty, a report from Axios claimed that the White House chief of staff’s control over the flow of information has stopped President Trump from seeing conservative outlets knock his flip-flop.