Will President Trump Throw DACA Recipients Under the Bus?

30Aug
by La Comadre

Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is hanging by a thread under the Trump administration this week. The Obama era program that has protected approximately 800,000 immigrants who were brought here as minors just saw its 5th year anniversary. However, the program may not survive past this week under the cruel and racist Trump administration.  

I received word this morning that the program could be ended as early as tomorrow.  DACA has provided temporary relief to thousands of minors that were brought to the United States by force and not by will. All have assimilated into the US and its culture and all have received an education in the United States.  Many have long since graduated from high school and in many cases from college and are now employed as professionals in communities throughout the U.S.  

Maria Blanco, Executive Director of the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center, told La Comadre, “DACA had opened the doors to  higher education for an entire generation of immigrants since the program was launched in 2012. With DACA, students are able to focus on their studies without the fear of deportation and they can work to defray the cost of college. These young people are productive the represent the future. Repealing DACA is mean and short-sighted.”

The DACA program is the result of creative policy making at the executive level, after Congress failed repeatedly to provide immigration relief to these young people. DREAMers had fought for many years to get the protections that DACA provides, staging protests throughout the country and appealing to lawmakers across the political spectrum. I don’t have much hope in it being spared, considering the racist and bigoted tone of the current administration. A recent lawsuit out of Texas, of course, adds fuel to the fire with a time frame for ending DACA or else!

So what will happen if DACA is terminated?  The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) has put together this very important information for DACA recipients.  

In a late-breaking development, House Representative Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) has filed amendments to the government spending bill (slated for next week) which would keep DACA intact. Representative Pete Aguilar (D-CA) is cosponsoring.    

Right now, there is a huge effort to stop this program from ending, and we are following the story very closely.

What do you think?

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La Comadre

We are Moms, Tias, Ninas and Play-Tias who love children in our lives and we want to help every child succeed in school. Navigating schools and education—from preschool to college—is hard. We want to help each other with this.
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