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Thirty-four (34) House Republicans are demanding for a permanent legislative solution to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In September, the Trump administration announced its decision to end DACA, which protects around young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The program provided them with work authorization for a period of two years, but not legal status. DACA is set to expire on March 5, 2018.

In a letter to Speaker Ryan, the GOP lawmakers said the young undocumented immigrants also known as Dreamers are contributing to their communities and the country’s economy. They believe that the Dreamers are “Americans in every way except their immigration status.”

DACA is an urgent matter

Additionally, they told Speaker Ryan that they agree with President Donald Trump that an executive action was not the right way to solve the issue. According to them, “Congress should act. We are compelled to act immediately because many DACA recipients are about to lose or have already lose their permits.”

Furthermore the Republican lawmakers emphasized that inaction on the issue is creating "understandable uncertainty and anxiety among immigrant communities."  They said DACA is an “urgent matter” that needs to a balance approach. It is important that Republicans and Democrats work together to solve the problem immediately.

“We must pass legislation that protects DACA recipients from deportation and gives them the opportunity to apply for a more secured status in our country as soon as possible. Reaching across the aisle to protect DACA recipients before the holidays is the right thing to do,” according to them.

Republicans has until March to fix DACA

In a statement, Congressman Rodney Davis of Illinois said many Republican are serious about finding a permanent solution for Dreamers. He made it clear that they want to work with the House leadership. They don’t want to play political games. He noted that their Democratic counterparts are holding government funding hostage to force action on the issue.

Several House Democrats have said they won’t support a critical spending bill this month needed to keep the government open unless the issue is resolved.

Over the past few days, the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that DACA is not a priority. They are focused on the budget legislation to prevent a shutdown and the tax reform legislation. Pres. Trump wants to sign the tax reform bill before Christmas.

In a recent interview with ABC News, McConnell said, “There is no crisis. There’s no emergency. The president has given us to March to address it."