Thursday, May 31, 2018

Trump refugee nominee demanded reparations from DACA recipients

President Trump 's nominee to head the State Department's office for refugees wrote last year that recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should pay restitution to Americans for illicit use of Social Security numbers.

Ronald Mortensen, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and former foreign service officer, was tapped by Trump last week to head the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

At CIS, Mortensen promoted a link between undocumented immigrants and identity theft.

Mortensen has argued that most undocumented immigrants, in order to work, use false or stolen Social Security numbers to obtain employment.

In October, he wrote that DACA recipients should pay reparations to American victims of identity theft in order to receive the program's benefits.

Mortensen did not respond to a request for comment made through CIS. If confirmed to the refugee position by the Senate, Mortensen would head the agency tasked with humanitarian assistance to people displaced by conflict and other natural or man-made disasters.

Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, a Facebook-funded immigration advocacy organization, called it "Troubling" that Mortensen would be nominated to a position after spreading "Falsehoods on immigration."

http://thehill.com/latino/389986-trump-refugee-nominee-demanded-reparations-from-daca-recipients 

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