The issue of DACA has stirred much controversy in the U.S since its repeal. It has since been on the minds of many who are affected by it. On September 5th, the Trump Administration took the first step to rescind the program “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals”, otherwise known as DACA. This program was implemented in 2012 under the Obama Administration as a way to protect undocumented child immigrants, granting them the ability to work in the US without fearing deportation.
The controversy surrounding DACA comes from the notion that President Obama implemented DACA as an executive order that did not go through the approval of Congress. It then went on to become a law, which many opponents to the motion viewed as an unfair exercise of power.
The New York Times reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions filed a letter to the Department of Homeland Security on September 5th, persuading the removal of DACA by stating, “Such an open-ended circumvention of immigration laws was an unconstitutional exercise of authority.” President Trump has promised to reform immigration legislation since the start of his campaign, starting with his travel ban and continuing with the current repeal of DACA.
Some Republicans see this dismissal as a positive. In the event that mass immigration is affecting the job market for American-born citizens, many are ecstatic for the rescinding. The appeal for the dismissal of DACA comes from the idea that it will reduce mass-employment of recipients. However, some Democrats have expressed their extreme opposition to this plan. Attorney generals from 15 states have banded together to sue President Trump over the DACA decision. The lawsuit, which was filed from the Eastern District of New York, explains that the President is purposely targeting Mexican immigrants in order to “to punish and disparage people with Mexican roots.” The lawsuit also argues that the president did not have the power to remove the previous executive order. Others state that president Trump has the power to end the program with the same power President Obama held in creating the order.
President Trump continues to express his support for the young dreamers, saying that he has ‘great love’ for them, while also condemning DACA. President Trump had turned to Congress to draft and implement a replacement for DACA.
When it comes to the future of DACA, it is uncertain whether or not Congress will create its own revised version of the legislation. Later in the day of the 5th, President Trump promised to “revisit the issue,” if Congress was unable to come up with a proper legislation by March of 2018. Republicans in Congress have been projecting their complaints on relaxed immigration control, especially towards DACA since its launch. However, some disagree with their fellow congressman, including the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, who admitted his desire to keep the program as Congress would create a new program. This came as an unexpected joining of both Democrat and Republican sides of Congress after years of clashing ideology on both sides
The remaining question is how the actual people under DACA will be affected. A little over 800,000 immigrants in the United States are protected under the legislation. With many of them being young adults who make up a considerable portion of the working class, ninety-one percent of recipients are employed, as reported by the San Diego Union Tribune. According to American Progress, an indepent policy institute, these recipients contribute to $460 billion in the next decade, meaning that deportation would result in a severe economic reduction. Many recipients are employed in all fields of work, as described by Ms. Hight, a civics teacher at Wilcox, some recipients are “…surgeons, some of them are serving in the military, some of them are right now working in the Hurricane Harvey relief fund.”
Coming into the US as children without the knowledge of their immigration status, they were allowed to live safely within the country, providing them a chance to become residents. The parts of DACA that spurred Republican opposition include the rhetoric that these immigrants are given unfair advantage over US citizens, by “taking jobs from citizens,” Jeff Sessions stated in the New York Times that DACA had “denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing those same illegal aliens to take those jobs,” implying that the US is not a place for illegal immigrants to attempt to find work.
The future of DACA and its recipients is hazy and uncertain. It is currently unknown if new legislature will be implemented soon, as Congress will have to produce a proper program that will replace the DACA program.