Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said Tuesday that Congress could legislate the program granting visas to undocumented immigrants who arrived as children, if President Donald Trump lends his support.
"There's a lot of Republicans, I'd actually say the majority of Republicans, that understand that this is important," the congressman said on CNN's "New Day." "We've gotten close, in the past, to a deal with President [Barack] Obama on immigration, for instance. It was some of the talking heads on the radio, I think, that made that not happen."
He added that the inclusion of a six-month delay before the program officially ends gives Congress enough time to find a legislative replacement.
"If [Trump] comes out today and says he's suspending DACA in six months, but he hopes Congress gets their act together and puts it into law, I think we get it done," he said. "I think it's going to depend on what the tone of the president is."
The Trump administration announced late Tuesday morning, after Kinzinger's interview, that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program "is being rescinded" in March after Texas and a number of other states threatened a lawsuit against the administration if it didn't end.
"As a result of recent litigation," acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke said in a statement, according to The Washington Post, "we were faced with two options: wind the program down in an orderly fashion that protects beneficiaries in the near-term while working with Congress to pass legislation; or allow the judiciary to potentially shut the program down completely and immediately. We chose the least disruptive option."
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