Jeb Bush Says He Would Not Repeal DACA and DAPA if Elected

Contributed by Aaron Hall, Partner

The 2016 Presidential election is more than a year away, but candidates are already staking out their positions on President Obama’s Executive Actions on immigration.  The Executive Actions, and in particular the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA), have been the subject of heated argument both amongst politicians and in the courts. 

Many Republican contenders have already indicated that they would repeal these programs on the day they step into the oval office.  The assumption has therefore been that a Republican president would repeal the programs and that a Democratic president would keep them in place.  But Bush, a leading Republican candidate who has criticized the executive actions, told Fox News that he would not immediately repeal the programs but would rather undo them by “passing meaningful reform of immigration and make [the repeal of the executive actions] part of it.”

Bush reiterated his support for giving undocumented immigrants a path to legalization, asking, “What are we supposed to do? Marginalize these people forever?"

Bush’s statement that Obama’s executive orders would stay in place until a legislative fix is enacted gives further hope to DACA and DAPA grantees and applicants that their grants of deferred action would continue into the next administration, regardless of which party wins the 2016 election.

Bloomberg.com Article on Jeb Bush Interview

Information on DAPA and DACA

Jeff Joseph Explaining Obama’s Executive Actions (video)

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