The President is expected to announce his decision on the fata of “DACA” sometime today.
In June, Homeland Security announced what appeared to be an extension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Later the Administration said they had not made a final decision on DACA but wanted to clarify their policy in another immigration area.
This issue could blow up as early as today. With reports the President has shifted back against the program.
DACA allows an undocumented young person brought into the country at a young age to stay here if certain conditions are met. The original DACA order was issued by President Barack Obama in 2012. More than 780,000 young people have applied for and are covered under the DACA rules. This issue has been uncertain over the past year as candidate Trump had taken a position against continuation but the President had sounded a more sympathetic tone since January.
The program has been threatened by the actions of ten state attorney’s general who have been calling for its elimination and are taking legal action to do just that. These young people, who know no other homeland, could be deported.
CWLA has been a supporter of DACA for several years.
There are many other immigration issues being pushed by the President’s supporters. Last month CWLA signed on to a joint letter in opposition of the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act (H.R. 391). The asylum and refugee programs in the United States are designed to assist victims of persecution in other countries. Generally, these are adults and children who are being persecuted on the grounds of race, religion, nationality political repression or due to being part of a certain group. Many concerns have been raised about the punitive nature of the House bill. There are also significant cuts in the budget to these same programs