--- title: John Kelly Says People Who Did Not Sign Up For DACA Are Lazy description: John Kelly suggested that people who are eligible for DACA but don't sign up for the program refrain in part out of laziness. canonical: https://time.com/5136113/john-kelly-daca/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-06T20:23:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:56:52.122Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Suggested People Don't Sign Up for DACA Out of Laziness og:description: He was defending the White House's immigration plan og:url: https://time.com/5136113/john-kelly-daca/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6958b19d7cce9bcd/6988e2c24ee26258fd30f7af/john-kelly-donald-trump-fallen-soldiers-criticism.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5213 og:image:height: 2932 og:image:alt: John Kelly Discusses Operational Implementation Of Trump Immigration Ban og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Suggested People Don't Sign Up for DACA Out of Laziness twitter:description: He was defending the White House's immigration plan twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6958b19d7cce9bcd/6988e2c24ee26258fd30f7af/john-kelly-donald-trump-fallen-soldiers-criticism.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Suggested People Don't Sign Up for DACA Out of Laziness > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6a5f3310-b89d-4c79-8205-1a2a528bb5ad&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump's First State of the Union Address In 4 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Trump's First State of the Union Address In 4 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TgeSYnJ0.m3u8) (3:39)  _Published 2018-01-31. Trump's First State of the Union Address In 4 Minutes_  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Feb 6, 2018 8:23 PM UTC Trump's First State of the Union Address In 4 Minutes  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Feb 6, 2018 8:23 PM UTC President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff suggested to reporters Tuesday that people who are eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) but don’t sign up for it refrain in part out of laziness. When describing the key components of the White House’s immigration framework, Gen. John Kelly noted that the plan includes a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million people, including DACA recipients as well as people eligible for DACA but who never signed up. “The difference between \[these numbers\] were the people that some would say were too afraid to sign up; others would say are too lazy to get off their asses but they didn’t sign up,” Kelly told reporters, [according to audio](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/kelly-dreamers-who-didnt-sign-up-for-daca-were-too-afraid-or-too-lazy/2018/02/06/01172cf6-0b66-11e8-998c-96deb18cca19%5Fvideo.html?utm%5Fterm=.1b7da99abd5c) posted by The Washington _Post_. Former President Barack Obama implemented DACA by executive order in 2012\. The program allows undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors with their parents to apply for a work permit, shielding them from deportation. Approximately 800,000 people have benefitted from the program, [according to](https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/All%20Form%20Types/DACA/daca%5Fperformancedata%5Ffy2017%5Fqtr2.pdf) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Trump administration announced in September that it was phasing out DACA, giving Congress a six-month window to find a solution (the deadline is March 5.) Congress shut down the government last month after lawmakers were unable to agree on a fix. However, they eventually approved a short-term bill funding the government through Feb. 8 after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised to work on an immigration deal. But that deadline is fast approaching, and such a deal does not seem imminent. Kelly also [told reporters Tuesday](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/kelly-i-doubt-very-much-that-trump-would-extend-daca-deadline/2018/02/06/d7c617de-0b6c-11e8-998c-96deb18cca19%5Fvideo.html?utm%5Fterm=.1b7da99abd5c) he does not expect Trump to extend the March 5 deadline if Congress has not reached an agreement. ## Transcript [00:00] Let's begin tonight by recognizing that the state [00:04] our union is strong because our people [00:08] are strong. [ APPLAUSE ] [00:13] We have created 2. 4 million new jobs. [ APPLAUSE ] [00:16] Including [ APPLAUSE ] including 200, 000 new jobs in [00:17] manufacturing alone. And just as I promised the [00:22] American people from [00:27] this podium 11 [00:31] months ago, we enacted the [00:35] biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history. [00:40] Since we passed tax cuts, roughly three million workers [00:44] have already got tax cut Bonuses. Many of [00:48] them thousands and thousands of dollars per worker [00:52] and it's getting more every month every week. Apple [00:57] has just announced the plans to invest a total of $ 350 [01:02] billion in America. And hire another 20, 000 [01:07] workers. The era of economic surrender is [01:11] totally over. From now on we expect trading [01:15] relationships to be fair and very importantly, [01:20] reciprocal. I am asking both parties to come together [01:24] to give us safe, fast, reliable, and modern [01:27] infrastructure. That our economy needs and our [01:30] people deserve. Tonight I'm calling on Congress to [01:33] produce a bill that generates at least, $ 1. 5 [01:38] trilion for the new infrastructure investment that [01:43] our country so desperately needs. This in fact is our [01:47] new American moment. There has never been a better [01:51] time to start living the American dream. Because [01:54] Americans are dreamers too. The first paragraph [01:59] about framework generally offers a path to citizenships [02:05] for 1. 8 million illegal emigrants. Who were brought [02:09] here by their parents at a young age. [ APPLAUSE ] [02:12] Under our plan, those who meet education and work [02:16] requirements, and show good moral character, will be [02:19] able to become full citizens of the United States over a [02:23] twelve- year period. As part of our defense [02:28] We most modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal. [02:33] Hopefully, never having to use it but making it so [02:37] strong and so powerful that it would deter any [02:42] acts of aggression but no regime. Has [02:46] oppressed it's own citizens more totally, more brutally, [02:51] than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea. North [02:56] Korea's reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could [03:00] very soon threaten our homeland. We are waging [03:04] a campaign of maximum pressure. To prevent [03:09] that from ever happening. I am proud to report that [03:13] the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated very [03:17] close to 100 % of the territory just [03:21] recently held by these killers in Iraq and [03:26] in Syria, and in other locations, as well. [ APPLAUSE ] [03:40] [ APPLAUSE ] [03:51] But there is much more work to be done. We will [03:55] continue our fight until ISIS is defeated. [ APPLAUSE ] [04:01] We will never fail. [04:03] Our families will thrive. Our people will [04:07] prosper. And our nation Will forever [04:12] be safe, and strong, and proud, and mighty, and free. [04:17] Thank you, and God bless America. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5136113/john-kelly-daca/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5136113/john-kelly-daca/"},"headline":"Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Suggested People Don't Sign Up for DACA Out of Laziness","datePublished":"2018-02-06T20:23:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T08:56:52.122Z","description":"He was defending the White House's immigration plan","url":"https://time.com/5136113/john-kelly-daca/","keywords":["Immigration","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6958b19d7cce9bcd/6988e2c24ee26258fd30f7af/john-kelly-donald-trump-fallen-soldiers-criticism.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6958b19d7cce9bcd/6988e2c24ee26258fd30f7af/john-kelly-donald-trump-fallen-soldiers-criticism.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Kelly Discusses Operational Implementation Of Trump Immigration Ban","caption":"John Kelly Discusses Operational Implementation Of Trump Immigration Ban","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5136113/john-kelly-daca/","name":"Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Suggested People Don't Sign Up for DACA Out of Laziness"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump's First State of the Union Address In 4 Minutes","description":"Trump's First State of the Union Address In 4 Minutes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TgeSYnJ0/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-01-31T05:15:22.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TgeSYnJ0.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5136113/john-kelly-daca/","duration":"PT3M39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5136113/john-kelly-daca/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```