United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially announced the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on Tuesday.
Congress has a six-month window to act before anyone currently protected by the program loses their ability to work, study, and live without fear in the US.
“To have a lawful system of immigration that serves the national interest, we cannot admit everyone who would like to come here. That is an open border policy and the American people have rightfully rejected it.
“Therefore, the nation must set and enforce a limit on how many immigrants we admit each year and that means all can not be accepted.”
United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a statement
A USCIS official told Grasswire that no new DACA pending applications and advance parole are to be granted “with immediate effect.” They are to be administratively closed, with the required $495 application fee returned to the applicant.
The program was implemented by the Obama administration in June 2012 and provided legal status for recipients for a renewable two-year term, work authorization, and participation in the social security program among other benefits. It doesn’t provide a path to citizenship or eligibility for student aid or federal welfare. According to figures from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, 787,500 people were approved for the program. The so-called Dreamers were brought into the country illegally as children.
Obama responded to the decision in a Facebook post:
“To target these young people is wrong – because they have done nothing wrong. It is self-defeating – because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel. What if our kid’s science teacher, or our friendly neighbor turns out to be a Dreamer? Where are we supposed to send her? To a country she doesn’t know or remember, with a language she may not even speak?
“Let’s be clear: the action taken today isn’t required legally. It’s a political decision, and a moral question. Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn’t threaten this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us.”
Former US President Barack Obama, in a Facebook post