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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Tuesday he supports bringing deported DACA recipients back to the U.S. and providing what he called “remedial assistance,” prompting critics to accuse him of wanting to pay deported immigrants.
Jeffries replied “certainly” when asked during a “PBS NewsHour” interview whether he would support bringing deported DACA recipients back to the U.S. He also said those he believes were treated unfairly by the Trump administration should receive “remedial assistance.”
“Anyone, whether they are a citizen, whether they were here lawfully, whether they’re DACA recipients, who’ve been treated unfairly and unjustly by the administration, we need to provide remedial assistance to them and undo the damage that’s been done to the country, to law-abiding immigrant families and to the American people over this last 20 months or so,” Jeffries told PBS News.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) speaks at a press conference on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding at the U.S. Capitol on February 4, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
DACA offers eligible immigrants brought to the country illegally as children temporary protection from deportation and the ability to apply for work authorization, but does not grant legal immigration status, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Jeffries did not specify whether the “remedial assistance” he proposed would include financial compensation. His office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Wednesday.
Podcaster Benny Johnson similarly criticized Jeffries in a social media post on Wednesday, alleging that Democrats “always put foreigners before Americans.”
“Hakeem Jeffries says he wants to re-import DACA recipients that have already been deported and pay them,” Johnson said. “This is the future under Democrat control. They will always put foreigners before Americans.”
“DISGUSTING: Incoming House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) supports bringing back DEPORTED DACA recipients and providing them with money and assistance to ‘undo the damage that’s been done to the country,'” conservative account Red Wave Press added on X.
“Hakeem Jeffries wants to bring back deported DACA recipients and pay them. Under far-left control, American citizens will always come second and be expected to pay for it. Every. Single. Time,” another X user posted.
“EVERY TIME Dems want any form of amnesty, it’s to make them voters, and use those voters to open the floodgate, then get citizenship to millions more,” Eric Daugherty, chief content officer of Florida’s Voice, claimed Wednesday in an X post responding to Jeffries’ remarks.
Jeffries also claimed during the interview that the U.S. currently has a “broken immigration system” that “needs to be fixed.”
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025.
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“Well, certainly, on the immigration front, we have a broken immigration system. It needs to be fixed,” Jeffries said. “It should be fixed in a comprehensive way.”
“Immigration enforcement should be fair, just and humane,” the New York Democrat added. “We’re not going to provide a dime to the administration’s violent mass deportation machine. Let’s work together, perhaps beginning with moving the Dream and Promise Act this Congress as a foundation for the type of work that can be done in the next Congress.”
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Jeffries’ comments come after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Monday raised the possibility of Congress creating a pathway to permanent legal status for DACA recipients.
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) logo appears on the screen of a smartphone, and in the background, the flag of the United States is on the computer screen on Dec. 3, 2024. (Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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“If we want to have an immigration reform to where we can look at DACA and figure out a way that these individuals can become maybe legal permanent citizens or something like this, that’ll be up to Congress,” Mullin said.
DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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DHS emphasized in a March 3, 2026, X post that DACA “does not confer any form of legal status” in the U.S.
“To be clear: DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country,” DHS said in the social media post. “Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons, including if they’ve committed a crime.”
“Between January 20, 2025, and September 28, 2025, ICE arrested 264 DACA recipients nationwide — and MORE than 92% were illegal aliens charged or CONVICTED of a crime in the U.S.,” the post continues.
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The White House on Monday left open the possibility of working with Democrats on an immigration deal for illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade without committing other crimes, though Trump and Mullin both ruled out amnesty.