No place for dreamers?

Photo: Contributed

A new public opinion poll from the Angus Reid Institute finds two-thirds of Canadians saying America’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should remain in place, but considerably smaller numbers say their own country should welcome those affected by the end of the policy. Some 38 per cent say Canada should offer DACA recipients the opportunity to come here, while 34 per cent say Canada should offer no such opportunity. The rest are unsure.

The Angus Reid poll indicates Canadians’ views on this question vary significantly depending on their familiarity with the DACA program, their age, and their political leanings.

These findings come as a caravan of Central American asylum-seekers makes its way through Mexico to the U.S. border. Trump has equated the caravan with DACA and illegal immigration writ-large, tweeting – incorrectly – that people attempting to cross the border illegally are doing so “to take advantage” of DACA, and arguing that there should be no Congressional deal to preserve the program.