President Trump is ending an Obama-era policy that temporarily blocked deportation for undocumented immigrants who were seeking work permits.
Trump will be ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy with a six-month delay. DACA, a key Obama-era immigration policy, was enacted in 2012. It protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, often referred to as Dreamers, from deportation.
According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website, DACA allows “certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines” to “request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal.” DACA also allows applications for work permits.
Sources told Politico that Trump had debated ending DACA for months, but it was Attorney General Jeff Sessions who convinced him that Congress, rather than the executive branch, should write immigration law so the Obama-enacted policy should be repealed.
Lawmakers from both parties have asked Trump not to terminate DACA. In a radio interview with WCLO in his native state of Wisconsin, House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke out against ending DACA, according to a CNN report.
"I actually don't think he should do that," Ryan said about ending to program. "I believe that this is something that Congress has to fix."
Trump faced harsh bipartisan criticism from lawmakers for his decision, especially on Twitter.
Some GOP lawmakers, who previously argued that congress, rather than the executive branch, should make immigration law, were supportive of the President’s decision.
In a thread, prominent Dreamer Juan Escalante explained the challenges that could come with the termination of DACA for dreamers and called the thought of losing DACA “dehumanizing.”
