Trump administration announces decision to end DACA
Ever since hitting the campaign trail, President* Donald Trump has cited undocumented citizens immigrating from Mexico as a major part of any problem. To remedy this, he’s threatened to build a giant wall, kick out “bad hombres” and is now looking to take away the legal residence of people who came to the U.S. with their families while they were only children.
Word of Trump’s plan to dismantle DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) spread over the weekend with many Dreamers worried about the future of their legal statuses.
After a weekend filled with speculation, CNN reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the official decision to end the Obama-endorsed program Tuesday morning.
“I am here today to announce that the program known as DACA that was effectuated under the Obama administration is being rescinded,” said Sessions.
As a sliver a hope, there will still be a window of time for Congress to overturn the decision while the Department of Homeland Security has agreed to process all DACA applications for the next six months.
If Congress doesn’t step in to halt the move, as many as 300,000 people could begin to lose their status in 2018 after their two-year permits expire, and another 320,000 would lose their status in the months that followed. For now, the Trump administration promises no one who currently has legal residence through DACA would lose it before it was set to expire and that deportation efforts would continue to prioritize undocumented citizens with criminal records. However, if they encounter any ICE agents after losing their status they could still face deportation.
Since President Obama enacted DACA in 2012, more than 100,000 people have been able to study at universities, start families and start careers.
“Congress, get ready to do your job,” Trump tweeted early Tuesday morning, implying that Congress’ job is to do what the president orders and not vote for the interests of their voters.
Congress, get ready to do your job – DACA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2017
Almost anyone with a set of working eyes and/or ears would interpret this move as a direct assault on the livelihoods on hundreds of thousands of people. However, the Trump administration continues to tell people the president “loves everybody” and is doing this for the good of the people.
“The president’s priorities on immigration are to create a system that encourages legal immigration and benefits our economy and American workers,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Friday. “The president’s been very clear he loves people and he wants to make sure that this decision is done correctly.”