President Donald Trump is expected to announce plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program implemented by the Obama administration. This program gives young undocumented immigrants a temporary reprieve from deportation. Under this DACA program, more than 800,000 undocumented youth who came here as children have received work permits and a temporary deferral from deportation.
Though Trump promised to end the program during his presidential campaign and unveiled certain harsh immigration policies after he took office, he kept the DACA program intact. According to the new report, the President is expected to end the DACA program. But those who received work permits through this program are likely to be allowed to remain in the country until their work permits expire. The validity of the work permits could range from a few months to two years. According to Sarah Sanders, the White House Press Secretary, the program is still “under review” and a final decision is yet to be made.
This program was implemented by then-President Barack Obama in 2012. Since then, this program has been protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation and allowing them to work legally in the U.S. on a temporary basis. Deferred action status received under this program is valid for a two year period after which it can be renewed for another two years.
Several lawmakers have been asking the President to put an end to the DACA program and keep his campaign promise. But in an interview with ABC News few months back, the President said that he might not completely put an end to the DACA program and that the young people who have received DACA should not be worried.
This report has now come in response to the legal challenge by ten American states including Texas, threatening to take the administration to court to attempt to block DACA, if it does not put an end to the program by September 5.
However, this move has received a lot of opposition from immigrant rights advocates, Democrats and business leaders. Chief executives of Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google have joined the other business leaders urging the President not to put an end to the DACA program. Corporate executives claim that the DREAMers are important to the country’s economy and the future of their companies.