Javier Palomarez, the president and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce who lives in Dallas, has stepped down as an adviser to the National Diversity Coalition after President Donald Trump announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
DACA, implemented by President Barack Obama in 2012, had protected about 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. These individuals became known as “Dreamers.”
Palomarez released a statement Tuesday calling the decision “inhumane” and “economically harmful.” He added: “This disgraceful action goes against not only the values of this country, but also against the promise of this administration to focus homeland security resources towards individuals who have committed violent crimes and pose a threat to communities across the country. Moreover, rescinding the work permits of almost 800,000 people and forcing them into the shadows is reckless economic policy.”
Palomarez previously was critical of the president’s ideas on policy during his presidential campaign. In fact, for the first time in history, the chamber endorsed a candidate for president, backing Hillary Clinton. But when Trump won the election and asked Palomarez to serve as an adviser to the coalition, Palomarez rose to the challenge. He told NPR that he wanted to do everything he could now that Trump was president, even if he didn’t always agree with his policies. Since then, Palomarez has taken Hispanic business owners to meet with the president, vice president, and Ivanka Trump, who serves as an adviser to her father.
Now that Trump has officially announced the end of DACA, however, Palomarez is ramping up his criticisms again. “Let’s lay the truth bare,” his statement reads. “President Trump has knowingly deceived the American people over the past seven months about his intentions to protect the innocent young men and women of the DACA program. ‘Rest easy,’ he assured Dreamers, while clarifying that his administration was, ‘not after the Dreamers, we are after criminals.’ Now they cannot rest easy. Now they will be awake at night wondering whether tomorrow will be their last day on American soil. The President misled our country by fabricating a position and making promise, only to turn around and do the complete opposite.”
