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Rubio on DACA: ‘I would not retroactively remove their status’

by Rebecca Savransky - 11/27/16 10:39 AM ET

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said on Sunday that he wouldn’t recommend that President-elect Donald Trump “retroactively remove” the status of those who qualify for protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program

{mosads}”I would say that, from some point forward, people will not be allowed to apply for renewal for that status,” Rubio said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview that aired Sunday.

“And that will give us a defined period of time to work through this, beginning with border security and modernization of the legal immigration system.”

Rubio clarified that a DACA permit is not “indefinite.”

“It expires. And what I would say is, if you have it, you’ll have it for the remainder of that period of time, but you will not be able to renew it,” Rubio said.

“In the meantime, and it’s not a long period of time, but it does give us the time to do border security, modernization, and then move to something very reasonable for people like those who came here as children, or those who have been here for a long time who are not criminals to allow them to attain some legal status through a legal way, not an unconstitutional way, which is what DACA is.”

DACA provides people living in the U.S. illegally who arrived as children with work authorization and a temporary halt on deportation if they meet certain requirements.

President Obama earlier this month said he will urge the president-elect to “think long and hard” before making a decision on deporting young Americans who qualify for protection under the executive action.

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Tags Donald Trump Marco Rubio