Immigrants Erect, Tear Down Statue of Jeff Sessions After Trump Slashes DACA

Immigrants and rights activists have erected and torn down a statue of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who they are calling "a living monument to the Confederacy," in a protest against the planned dissolution of DACA program in Washington, D.C.

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The protest, organized by Mijente, was joined by representatives of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, Juntos and Organized Communities Against Deportations.

Sessions announced Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration was phasing out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, program, which allowed young people who were brought to the country "illegally" as children to stay and work in the country.

Sessions called DACA an unconstitutional overreach by Obama and said there will be an "orderly, lawful wind-down," adding that Congress would have six months to decide on an alternative.

The move plunged almost 800,000 young people, known as "Dreamers," into uncertainty. It also drew criticism from business and religious leaders, lawmakers, unions and civil liberties advocates.

“Jeff Sessions is a living monument to the Confederacy. He and Donald Trump’s white supremacist agenda must be stopped,” Marisa Franco, director of Mijente, said in a statement.

“We will not accept the criminalization of our community and we will push every person in an office of power to stand against it as well,” she added.

Trump made crackdowns on undocumented immigrants a centerpiece of his 2016 election campaign. Since he took office, his administration has tighten immigration enforcement and stepped up immigration arrests.

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In a statement, Trump defended his decision to rescind the DACA program as necessary to safeguard the rule of law in the country.

"I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws," Trump said. 

Several immigrants who are directly impacted by the Trump’s immigration policies also spoke at the Wednesday rally near the Department of Justice. 

Among them were Genoveva Ramirez, an Illinois grandmother who was ordered to be deported next month, and Jeanette Vizguerra, an undocumented mother and organizer who spent three months in Denver sanctuary.