On September 5, President Trump decided to terminate the protection of children of illegal immigrants, leaving thousands at risk who are under DACA.
What is DACA?
DACA is a program funded by the federal government which was created in 2012 under the presidency of Barack Obama. It allowed people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children to have the temporary right to live, study, and work in the U.S..
Those applying are vetted, or checked for any criminal history for threats to the U.S.’s national security and must be students or have completed school or military service. If they pass vetting, the action to deport them is put in limbo for two years, giving the immigrants a chance to renew, and they become eligible for basics like a driving license, college enrollment or a work permit. However, this will be all gone. Since Jeff Sessions announced Trump’s decision, many have voiced their disgust and surprise, while others expressed their happiness and praise. Thomas Carney, Those who don’t approve of this decision decided to publicly protest. Some however, were are fine with it, and expressing no concern for this huge decision. Thomas Carney, 9th grader at Gonzaga said, “I don’t agree with his decision, because he is deporting children who didn’t do anything.” An anonymous student at Washington International School said, “I totally agree with his decision it was the best decision he’s ever made.” Katie Rosenfeld, an AU student living on campus replies “ I totally disagree because he’s deporting children that have no support and in need of protection.”
Those protected under DACA are known as “Dreamers”. When President Trump had Jeff Sessions announce Trump’s decision to terminate the program, 787,580 were granted approval. In order to apply, they had to have been younger than 31 on 15 June 2012, when the program began, and had to be classified as “undocumented”, meaning that they lack the legal immigration status.
They also had to have arrived in the US before turning 16 and lived in the U.S continuously since June 2007. Most Dreamers come from or origins are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and the largest numbers live in California, Texas, Florida and New York. They range in age from 15 to 36, according to the White House.
Many people have their own reasons on why Donald Trump made this decision. News critics state that Trump did this because it was that was related to Obama and his image. Still, there may be many more reasons. “I don’t exactly know why,” said Carney. “Maybe he has a sense of pride in what he believes in.”
Some think the decision is made for malicious intent. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing and by terminating the DACA he probably thinks that’ll “benefit” the economy.” said Rosenfeld. “And his political standing by appealing to white supremacist nationalists.” However, the decision could have been made to benefit the U.S. Amy Lopez goes with this idea, “I don’t really understand why, maybe it’s decided because of a population issue.”
What will happen to the people known as Dreamers?
Ultimately, their positions and everything they achieved in the U.S would be wiped of their permanent record once they get deported. They would eventually be deported and sent back to their countries that they may have no to little familiarity with. It is still unclear whether this would happen, because Congress still has to decide to pass the bill or not. Fear had been rising in the from the announcement. Those with work permits expiring between Sept. 5, 2017 and March 5 2018 will be allowed to apply for renewal by 5 October.
A lot of people have stated that this is a a very cold-hearted decision, because of how the decision will remove children who have had no choice. “I think it’s mostly centered around xenophobia (intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries) and I do not think it’s justified by patriotism.” Lopez explains. “However, I do see why one could believe that the mixing of cultures wouldn’t work so well. There’s really no reason for children to be treated like this when they don’t even know about their own country.” “No, I don’t think the decision can be justified by patriotism.” Ellen Nathan, a adult psychologist says while implying that Trump did this for his followers. “Personally, I believe that it was strictly motivated by politics, i.e.-his fervent need to assuage his base of supporters.” Others have said that the decision is patriotic for the country, and that it was only to make America great again. This decision has virtually split the U.S because of its severity and harshness.
Is there really another solution? Even if Trump did not terminate DACA, would we need another solution, or is there really nothing else we could do? Should we make it easier to have a citizenship, but still have limitation on those who illegally immigrated? Nathan thinks there should be a compromise or a “gray area”. “I believe that the “dreamers” deserve a path to citizenship, albeit a long one. They only deserve the right to pay state tuition at universities IF their parents have paid both taxes and social security during their terms in the US. However, dreamers do deserve to stay in the US, be educated here, and live freely. In turn, they must pay taxes, and observe all the laws of US citizens. After a designated period of time, they should be permitted to apply for, and be granted citizenship and all rights that come with it.”
By Constantin Velev