A political action committee that enthusiastically endorsed then-candidate Donald Trump in the election revoked its backing Tuesday, saying he has “caved” on most of the big promises he made on immigration.
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC said Mr. Trump has yet to cancel former President Barack Obama’s 2012 deportation amnesty for Dreamers, has set the level of refugees too high and has sent signals through staff that he may eventually be open to legalizing most illegal immigrants.
“We were so hopeful that Donald Trump would be a man of his word because the campaign promises he made to Americans were the things America needs to do to survive and thrive, but, unfortunately, Trump has made it clear he cannot be trusted on his most powerful campaign issue of stopping illegal immigration and amnesty,” said William Gheen, the PAC’s president.
The group had endorsed Mr. Trump early in the primary process last year, giving him support in February, when the field was still crowded.
Mr. Trump energized a part of the American electorate that wants to see a crackdown on illegal immigration but which had struggled to find a home in either of the two major political parties.
Democrats have focused more on legalizing illegal immigrants, while Republicans traditionally have focused on bringing in foreign workers to meet businesses’ needs.
The new spending bill on Capitol Hill this week paves the way for the government to more than double the number of seasonal foreign workers.
And Mr. Trump has yet to revoke the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy that Mr. Obama wrote to grant tentative legal status to more than 750,000 illegal immigrant young adults.
That was the final straw for Mr. Gheen and his group.
“Trump promised to end DACA on his first day with a simple memo canceling Obama’s illegal directives. This was the most important thing Trump could have done to restore constitutional governance in America, but instead he is choosing the path of dictatorship Obama did,” Mr. Gheen said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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