Dreamer Reacts to End of DACA

“President Trump promised to go after violent criminals, not innocent children.We should not be targeting young people who are working, going to school, paying taxes and contributing to this country – the country they grew up in and the only home they’ve ever known”.

DACA was a 2012 executive order by former President Barack Obama that offered legal protection to undocumented immigrants over age 15, allowing them to work legally in the USA on renewable, two-year permits.

President Donald Trump is giving Congress six months to come up with a legislative fix before the government stops renewing permits for people already covered by the program, the AP reported. He urged Congress to seek a legislative answer to immigration issues in the absence of DACA.

“Far be it from me to criticize God”, Meyers said, “but he is a awful gift-giver!”

“Because what we brought to this country is talent”, she said. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that about half of the undocumented young people who qualify for DACA have actually received it. “Instead, their only plan is to deport 11 million individuals, including 790,000 dreamers”.

Legislation to legalize the so-called Dreamers has been lingering in Congress for years. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has signaled his willingness, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not. The loss of DACA, which gives renewable, two-year permits to immigrants who entered the United States as undocumented minors, is expected to heavily cost Silicon Valley.

Under former President Barack Obama, Justice Department lawyers concluded in 2014 that DACA is lawful.

With the administration’s announcement, it pushes the issue of immigration status for the roughly 800,000 recipients of DACA to Congress, where laws related to legalizing young immigrants brought to the country by their parents have toiled for almost two decades.

Around 12:00 p.m.: Trump repeatedly reiterates the need for Congress to act on immigration policy in a statement explaining his decision to rescind DACA.

“Let’s be clear, the action taken isn’t required legally”.

“To target these young people is wrong – because they have done nothing wrong”, he wrote.

Karen Marin, of NY, said that while she was disappointed that DACA is ending, she has survived without it before and can again now.

“I was very disappointed with the news we heard today”.

“There can be no path to principled immigration reform if the executive branch is able to rewrite or nullify federal laws at will”, Trump said in a statement.

Frustration grew during the Obama administration over repeated failures to pass the “Dream Act”, which would have provided a path to legal USA citizenship for young immigrants brought to the country as children. I’m talking about many thousands of jobs that American citizens are filling now. We agreed to use Paola’s middle name because she is fearful that with the end of DACA, she and her family are vulnerable to deportation.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said they are considering lawsuits to challenge Trump’s move, but spokespersons for the two officials said no details are available on when and on what grounds the lawsuits might be filed.

While the politicians argue over the merits of the administration’s decision – our region’s immigrant population continues to worry about their fate – while others who live here think the president’s decision is the right one.

Some who came to the rally are Dreamers.