Reports have emerged that President Donald Trump may end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on Friday. From McClatchyDC:
President Donald Trump is expected to end an Obama-era program that shielded young people from deportation, but he will likely let the immigrants known as Dreamers stay in the United States until their work permits run out, according to multiple people familiar with the policy negotiation.That plan would allow Trump to fulfill a campaign promise to end one of Barack Obama’s signature initiatives while also giving the president a way to keep the pledge he made after Inauguration Day to treat the Dreamers with “great heart,” said sources on both sides of the issue who are involved in the discussions.
I blogged in February that DHS issued new guidelines for immigration, which listed which aliens should be deported by importance. The memos spared those under DACA:
The changes would spare so-called “dreamers.” On a conference call with reporters, a DHS official stressed that the directives would not affect Obama-era protections for illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and others given a reprieve in 2014. But outside those exemptions, Kelly wrote that DHS “no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement.”
In April, then-DHS Secretary John Kelly told CNN that the department has not targeted ‘Dreamers’ because officials were more concerned with criminals:
“The President told me to do two things,” Kelly said. “He told me to secure the Southwest border — all of our borders, and, of course, focusing now on the Southwest border — and to take the worst of those that are in our country illegally, take them — look for them and deport them. So that’s what I’m doing.”
Ten states, led by Texas, threatened to sue the U.S. if Trump did not do anything about DACA. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on June 29, asking the administration to “phase out the DACA program.” He wrote:
“If, by September 5, 2017, the Executive Branch agrees to rescind the June 15, 2012 DACA memorandum and not to renew or issue any new DACA or Expanded DACA permits in the future, then the plaintiffs that successfully challenged DAPA and Expanded DACA will voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit currently pending in the Southern District of Texas,” they write. “Otherwise, the complaint in that case will be amended to challenge both the DACA program and the remaining Expanded DACA permits.”
The attorney generals from Arkansas, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia joined Paxton and Texas in the request along with Idaho Governor C.L. Otter.
Earlier this month, reports came out that Trump wanted to end the program. It appears that Sessions has also applied pressure to Trump to end DACA.
Here is the information on DACA from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on the Department of Homeland Security website:
What Is DACAOn June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible for work authorization. Deferred action is a use of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal action against an individual for a certain period of time. Deferred action does not provide lawful status.
GuidelinesYou may request DACA if you:1. Were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;2. Came to the United States before reaching your 16th birthday;3. Have continuously resided in the United States since June 4. 15, 2007, up to the present time;5. Were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making your request for consideration of deferred action with USCIS;Had no lawful status on June 15, 2012;6. Are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed 7. Forces of the United States; andHave not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor,or three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.
Townhall stated that DACA “covers about 800,000 youth who came here illegally.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY