Javier Palomarez, CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, on Tuesday resigned from President Donald Trump's National Diversity Council on HLN's "Across America With Carol Costello."
Palomarez's resignation followed the Trump administration's decision earlier that day to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was facing a possible court challenge. DACA was an executive order signed by former President Barack Obama giving certain illegal immigrants protected status, and Palomarez had previously said he would quit if Trump ended it.
"I don't know what is in his heart," Palomarez said of Trump. "I'm disappointed that he lied to the American people. He said that he believed in Dreamers; he said he would take care of Dreamers."
HLN host Carol Costello then asked whether he would resign from Trump's diversity council, and Palomarez replied by saying he was resigning right at that moment.
"I officially resign from that council, effective immediately," he said.
Costello hesitated and asked, "So you've already turned in your resignation letter to the Trump administration?"
"There is no letter; this is it," Palomarez said. "This is the resignation."
"I tried to work as hard as I could with this administration on this issue, and I continue to want to work with them on other issues, like tax reform, like health care reform, and so many other important things," Palomarez said. "But I really don't see the logic in doing what we're doing right now."
Costello asked for clarification that he was resigning right at that moment on TV.
"I am resigning right now from that council," Palomarez said. "I don't see the point in continuing to try to work with people that clearly don't see this issue the way I do. This was the only thing we were focused on: I never believed in the wall, but I didn't stand in the way of the wall. No one was going to die if a wall got built. But we are talking about people's lives here."
"They have worked hard to become good American citizens," Palomarez added about Dreamers, who are young illegal immigrations brought to the U.S. as children. They are not U.S. citizens, and were not granted citizenship under DACA.
Palomarez had said last month that he would not resign from the diversity council even after Trump's "deplorable" comments on the violence in Charlottesville, Va., but he stated before that he drew the line at DACA. Trump saw a set of resignations from the White House's American Manufacturing Council and Strategic and Policy forum following Charlottesville, and he dissolved both of those groups last month.