by Kaci Schneidawind
Tuesday, Sept. 5 was the beginning of the end of the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
This program, put in place by former President Barack Obama in 2012, offers those who immigrated to the United States as children deferred removal action for those who meet certain guidelines. Essentially, it permits these individuals – known as DREAMers because of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors act – to reside in the U.S. without fear of removal and allows them to work legally.
DACA protects some 800,000 recipients who could be deported as soon as March.
The announcement came from Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He cited job loss and illegal activity as the main reasons for the rollback.
“[DACA] has denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing illegal aliens to take those jobs,” Sessions said.
In a statement, President Trump said he was motivated by a concern for “the millions of Americans victimized by this unfair system.”
Like many of his previous policy proposals, this one was not announced without controversy.
Protests of the decision came in front of the White House and Justice Department, and across the country. Prominent business executives and politicians alike stepped up in support of DREAMers.
Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post on his personal page, “It is particularly cruel to offer young people the American Dream, encourage them to come out of the shadows and trust our government, and then punish them for it.”
In another post to Facebook, Obama shared, “Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn’t threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking anything away from the rest of us.”
The pronouncement presumably came as part of Trump’s plans to enforce a law-and-order policy on immigration, though the president is open to finding a legislative solution.
“The president wants to see responsible immigration reform, and he wants to be part of it,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “Something needs to be done. It’s Congress’s job to do that. And we want to be part of the process.”
As he has done in the past, the president employed his Twitter account to encourage bipartisan action on the issue.
On the day of the announcement, Trump tweeted, “I look forward to working with [Democrats and Republicans] in Congress to address immigration reform in a way that puts hardworking citizens, of our country 1st.”
But only two days later, Thursday, he posted, “For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6 month period, you have nothing to worry about – no action!”
Indeed, Sessions’ announcement formally began the process of rescinding legal status for those protected under the DACA program, but there is still time to turn back the clock.
Immigration officials said recipients whose legal status runs out before March 5 are able to renew their two-year period of legality if they apply for it by Oct. 5.
This announcement also means that if Congress fails to act quickly, immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children may face deportation as early as March 6 to countries they have no recollection of, as they only know the U.S. as their home.
The inhumanity of the decision was noted by Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, calling it “nothing short of hypocrisy, cruelty, and cowardice.”
“What I’d like to do is a comprehensive immigration plan,” he told reporters. “But our country and our political forces are not ready yet.”
Only time will tell the fate of the DREAMers, with their lives being in the hands of government officials whose ancestors were themselves immigrants – something they may want to remember when playing god.
Sources: The New York Times; Twitter
The Scroll 
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