Report: Accused thieves, suspected murderers, child porn suspects among DACA recipients

While many recipients of an Obama-era immigration program are upstanding professionals like lawyers and teachers, there are also thousands who have been accused of driving drunk along with hundreds of forgers, sexual abusers and even 15 or so having been charged with murder, a new government report said on Saturday.

The program — Delayed Action on Childhood Arrivals, or DACA — stems from a controversial executive order issued by President Obama in 2014 that delayed immigrant enforcement actions for young people brought illegally into the country by their parents.

Critics say Obama changed U.S. law unilaterally with the order, something that presidents do not have the authority to do. They also note that in spite of supporters’ claims that the program does not benefit people who have broken other U.S. laws, the reality is much different.

And the new report by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services appears to substantiate at least some of those concerns.

According to the report, 62 “Dreamers” as they are called were approved for the DACA program though they have charges of rape in their files. Two dozen others had been accused of arson.

Two had child pornography charges but were approved as well, the agency said.

In all, according to the report, some 10 percent of people currently holding DACA status have criminal records.

“When DACA was sold to the American people as being for valedictorians and otherwise law-abiding, that’s really just not the case,” said one USCIS official. “There’s definitely criminal actors in the population that has received deportation protections.”

The report was released just days after the Trump administration argued before the Supreme Court that the president has the authority to end the program by executive order since it was created by one. Justices will decide if the administration’s wind-down was legal.