TUCSON, Ariz. - Senator Martha McSally says the Supreme Court’s DACA decision confirms her feeling the Senate and House need to pass comprehensive immigration reform to cover DACA and more.
The death of George Floyd in police custody has her also moving toward police reform.
DACA, for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is based on an order from then-President Obama that grants temporary legal status to immigrants brought to this country when they were so young they didn’t have any say in the matter.
The Supreme Court ruled the Trump Administration had the authority to end the program but did not properly justify the move.
Senator Martha McSally says she’d rather see the Senate and House turn decades of talk about immigration reform into law that includes protection for DACA recipients.
“I think even most Republicans would agree that children that were brought here have no fault of their own. They deserve a legal path, but we can't incentivize it continuing to happen over and over again so we do have to close those loopholes in our laws and those things should be tied together that's the key.”
McSally’s opponent in the race for the Senate also wants to see Congress pasa DACA protections.
In a statement Mark Kelly said, in part: “it is well past time for Congress to do its part and pass an earned pathway to citizenship so Dreamers can continue to thrive here and contribute to our communities as American citizens.”
On police reform after the death of George Floyd, McSally supports the Senate bill that ties Federal aid to local police to better training to de-escalate confrontations, more body cameras and training that tells officers they must not stand by and let another officer abuse someone.
“This is something I can relate to from the military, we teach our airmen, to not be bystanders or facilitators when they see wrongdoing regardless of what their rank is, and we need that same culture and training of duty to intervene if you see a police officer, who is using excessive force don't just stand by do something about it. That's a key element of our legislation.”
And the bill creates a national database on officer behavior so troubled officers can’t simply find a job in a different department.
