DACA recipients have been treated "extremely badly" by Democrats, who did not want the program in the bill, President Trump insisted during his remarks Friday at the White House ahead of putting his signature on the omnibus.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was enforced by President Obama, defers the deportation of illegal immigrants who came to the country as minors. Trump rescinded it in September of last year, giving Congress six months to try and make it constitutional. Despite multiple meetings and press conferences, legislators have apparently failed to save it.
In his White House address about the DACA-lacking omnibus, Trump spoke directly to the Hispanic community, telling them that the Democrats are decidedly not on their side.
"Republicans are much more on your side than the Democrats, who are using you for their purposes," he said matter-of-factly.
He's wrong, according to top Democrats like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
The president is wrong. President Trump unilaterally rescinded DACA and rejected every bipartisan proposal that would solve the crisis. He went back on his word after agreeing to deals time and again.
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) March 23, 2018
Other critics were quick to point out that Trump was the one to rescind the program in the first place.
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.@realDonaldTrump if you like DACA recipients so much, rescind your DACA ORDER! #DREAMActNow
— US Rep. Filemon Vela (@RepFilemonVela) March 23, 2018
In January, Feinstein sat across from the president during their bipartisan, open doors discussion about immigration reform. At one point, she suggested that they vote on a "clean" DACA bill. Trump seemed open to the idea, until GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy put on the brakes and explained what she seemed to be suggesting - a DACA bill without funding for more border security. Trump had insisted on billions of dollars for a border wall.
The immigration discussion was cordial, but judging by Trump's speech today, it did not result in any meaningful compromise. Neither DACA nor a significant amount of border wall funding made it into the spending bill.
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