AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT ON TUESDAY IF THE PROGRAM STAYS IN
PLACE. CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL HAF
ENGINEER PENNED A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT.
HE JOINS ME NOW. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
APPRECIATE IT. >> THANK YOU.
>> LET'S START WITH THE ARGUMENT AGAINST DACA.
U OPPONENTS SAYING BOTTOM LINE, PRESIDENT OBAMA ACTUALLY WENT
BEYOND THE AUTHORITY THAT HE HAS AS PRESIDENT WHEN HE ENACTED
DACA, THAT HE DOESN'T HAVE THAT TYPE OF BROAD AUTHORITY WHEN IT
COMES TO IMMIGRATION. YOUR COUNTER POINTER TO THAT.
>> THE HISTORY, OUR RECORD IN THE UNITED STATES FROM PRESIDENT
EISENHOWER TO PRESIDENT REAGAN TO OF COURSE PRESIDENT OBAMA,
THIS TYPE OF EXECUTIVE ACTION HAS BEEN USED IN THE PAST IN
NUMBERS SIMILAR IN SIZE. IN FACT, BIGGER BY PRESIDENT
REAGAN AND PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH SR. THAN WHAT PRESIDENT OBAMA
HAS DONE. SO I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY
DOUBT. I FEEL VERY CONFIDENT THAT THE
DACA PROGRAM IS FULLY LAWFUL. MORE THAN THAT, I THINK IT'S
FULLY AMERICAN. IT FITS WITHIN OUR VALUES AND IT
IS CERTAINLY AN OVERWHELMING ECONOMIC SUCCESS NOT JUST FOR
THE RECIPIENTS, THE DREAMERS, BUT FOR OUR COUNTRY AND ITS
ECONOMY. >> AND TO THOSE, PARTICULARLY
THOSE IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WHO WOULD SAY,
OKAY, IF FORMER PRESIDENT OBAMA HAD THAT TYPE OF AUTHORITY THAN
DOESN'T PRESIDENT TRUMP HAVE BROAD AUTHORITY WHEN IT COMES
TO, FOR EXAMPLE, HIS TRAVEL BAN? DO YOU SEE THOSE TWO BEING
SIMILAR. >> THE PRESIDENT HAS BROAD
AUTHORITY AT ALL TIMES, BUT HE DOESN'T HAVE BROAD AUTHORITY TO
VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTION. THE PROBLEPROBLEM WITH THE MUSL
TRAVEL BAN WAS IT VIOLATED THE PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION,
WHETHER IT WAS THE FIRST AMENDMENT OR THE 14th AMENDMENT.
THE DACA PROGRAM DOES NOT VIOLATE ANY CONSTITUTIONAL
RIGHTS THAT PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE, AND SO THERE'S A VERY BIG
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CONSTITUTIONAL OVER REACH AND A
MUSLIM TRAVEL BAN. AND THE DACA PROGRAM, WHICH IS
VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT PRESIDENT REAGAN DID AND PRESIDENT GEORGE
BUSH SR. DID WHEN THEY WERE PRESIDENTS IN TRYING TO HELP
ADDRESS AN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM WITH AN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM THAT
WAS BROKEN EVEN THEN. SO I THINK THERE'S A BIG
DIFFERENCE, AND THAT'S WHY I FEEL VERY CONFIDENT THAT IF WE
HAD A CHANCE TO DEFEND THE DACA PROGRAM IN COURT, WE WOULD
PREVAIL. >> AND BEFORE WE GET TO THAT,
BECAUSE I DO WANT TO DISCUSS YOUR STRATEGY MOVING FORWARD.
TO THOSE WHO WOULD ARGUE, HEY, YOU KNOW, WE CAME HERE LEGALLY
AND ALLOWING -- HAVING THIS DACA PROGRAM ACTUALLY ALLOWS PEOPLE
TO STAY AND THAT IS NOT FAIR TO THOSE WHO DID COME HERE LEGALLY
WHO WANT TO WORK, WHO WANT TO GO TO COLLEGE, WHAT DO YOU SAY TO
THAT COUNTER ARGUMENT? >> KRISTEN, I DON'T THINK ANYONE
HAS ANY DOUBT THAT OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM IS WOEFULLY
BROKEN AND NEEDS TO BE REFORMED. AND MANY OF US HAVE TRIED.
I WAS IN CONGRESS FOR 24 YEARS AND MADE AN EFFORT AND CAME
PRETTY CLOSE ON A BIPARTISAN DEAL.
BUT I THINK AT THE SAME TIME WE ALSO ARE RATIONAL HUMAN BEINGS.
WE KNOW THAT CHILDREN DON'T GET TO DO AND SAY WHAT THEY
NECESSARILY WANT OR THINK IS BEST FOR THEMSELVES.
THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE YOUR PARENTS.
AND SO MANY OF THESE DREAMERS CAME WHEN THEY WERE VERY YOUNG,
ALL OF THEM CAME WHEN THEY WERE MINORS, AND SO IT WASN'T THEIR
CHOICE IN MOST CASES TO COME TO THIS COUNTRY.
AND CERTAINLY MOST HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH INTENDING TO VIOLATE ANY
PARTICULAR LAW. SO THEY GREW UP IN AMERICA
KNOWING NOTHING BUT AMERICA AS THEIR HOME AND NOW THEY'RE BEING
TOLD THAT THEY MAY BE DEPORTED WHEN IN FACT THEY'VE PROVEN TO
BE GREAT SUCCESSES, VAL PARTICULAR TO HER YANS IN THEIR
HSZ, GOING TO GREAT UNIVERSITIES, BECOMING
PROFESSIONALS. >> I WANT TO GET A SENSE OF YOUR
STRATEGY MOVING FORWARD. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PRESIDENT
IS GOING TO ANNOUNCE IF HE DOES DECIDE TO RESCIND IT, SCRAP IT,
WHAT WOULD YOUR NEXT COURSE OF ACTION BE?
WOULD YOU TAKE LEGAL ACTION OR WOULD YOU TRY TO GO THROUGH
CONGRESS TO TRY TO GET SOMETHING DONE LEJTS LAIFBL AS YOU WERE
JUST DISCUSSING? >> KRISTEN, WE'VE EXPLORED EVERY
OPTION, WHETHER IT'S GOING TO COURT OR TRYING TO WORK WITH
CONGRESS. WE WILL BE PREPARED ONCE THE
PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES HIS ACTIONS TO USE EVERY TOOL THAT WE HAVE
AT OUR DISPOSAL, TO TRY TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE OF
CALIFORNIA. 2 HUNDRED,000 OF THE 800,000
DREAMERS LIVE IN CALIFORNIA WHO HAVE QUALIFIED FOR DACA.
AND WE'VE SEEN THE SUCCESS OF THE PROGRAM.
WE WANT PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BUILD OUR STATE, MAKE IT GROW, CREATE
JOBS. WE WANT THEM TO STALE.
THAT'S WHY WE'RE THE SIXTH LARGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD,
JUST ONE STATE. AND SO WE'LL DO EVERYTHING WE
CAN TO DEFEND A PROGRAM THAT'S BEEN AN AMERICAN SUCCESS AND
THAT HAS PROVED TO CALIFORNIA TO REALLY BE HELPFUL IN MOVING
FORWARD AN AGENDA THAT'S MADE CALIFORNIA SUCH A SUCCESS AS
WELL. >> WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING
THROUGHOUT THE HOUR OBVIOUSLY THE POLITICS OF THIS HAVE CHANGE
BECAUSE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN TEXAS.
DO YOU THINK, ARE YOU HEARING THAT THAT IS GOING TO IMPACT THE
PRESIDENT'S DECISION? YOU OBVIOUSLY JUST WROTE THIS
OP-ED ABOUT THIS. DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT THIS
TURNS UP THE POLITICAL PRESSURE ON THE PRESIDENT?
>> WELL, IT CERTAINLY BRINGS TO LIFE WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO SAY.
THIS ISN'T JUST POLICY AND IT'S CERTAINLY NOT POLITICS.
THESE ARE PEOPLE. THESE ARE REAL LIVES.
AND NOW IT BECOMES REAL WHEN YOU START TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE
FOLKS IN HOUSTON. SOME OF THEM PERHAPS DREAMERS
WHO ARE IMPACTED. THIS IS REAL STUFF, AND I THINK
MOST PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT. THIS IS A TIME FOR US TO BE
GENEROUS TO HELP THE FOLKS IN TEXAS AND LOUISIANA.
AND EVEN OTHER STATES NOW WHO ARE FACING THESE FLOODS AND LOSS
OF HOME AND EVERYTHING ELSE. AND I DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE WOULD
SAY LET'S START SEPARATING AND ZWINGING BETWEEN SOMEONE WHO HAS
BEEN A CITIZEN BORN IN THIS COUNTRY AND SOMEONE WHO IS A
YOUNG DREAMER WHO KNOWS NOTHING BUT AMERICA AS HOME, BUT BECAUSE
THEY CAME WITH THEIR PARENTS WITHOUT DOCUMENTS, WE'RE GOING
TO LET THEM GO AHEAD AND TRY TO MAKE IT ON THEIR OWN.
IT POINTS OUT WHY REFORGE IMMIGRATION IS SO IMPORTANT, BUT
WHY THE DACA PROGRAM AS WELL SH