WASHINGTON (KSNW) – Congressman Roger Marshall issued the following statement following the Trump administration’s announcement this morning on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA):

The young people covered by DACA are not just a statistic on a DHS report. These are friends of my children, brothers and sisters of babies I’ve delivered, and members of my community. They didn’t put themselves in this position, and my heart goes out to them.

The United States is in this position due to the unilateral approach the previous administration took toward enacting DACA. It is because of that one-sided approach that we now have uncertainty and inconsistency throughout the entire immigration system. Consistency should be the hallmark of American governance.

Our resources, especially as they pertain to deportation, must remain focused on getting rid of bad people who present a danger to the American citizen – not a young person who is here simply due to circumstance. To date, 787,000 young people have legally registered with the U.S. government, and showed their willingness to follow our laws. We cannot allow that information to now be used against them in reverse order.

We are having these conversations now in Congress. Just a month ago, a Democrat colleague of mine and I got a bipartisan group of freshmen Members of Congress in a room to discuss what we can do to move forward on bipartisan, thoughtful solutions to the crises many communities and families are now facing.

Congress must use legal, legislative avenues to figure out how to help these young people, so long as they follow our laws. My priorities on this issue have always been, and will remain, to secure the border and help develop a workable visa for our farmers and producers back home. We must do right by them, by these young people and the safety of the American public.”