This morning, after much speculation, the White House confirmed that it would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA. Despite President Donald Trump saying he "loved" DREAMers, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in a press conference that DACA–which was initiated as a policy by President Barack Obama in 2012–would be rescinded. It'a a blow to so many, but for Latinos, it's a strong call to action.
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"The policy was implemented unilaterally, to great controversy and legal concern," Sessions said. He also justified it, saying it's unconstitutional:
The executive branch through DACA deliberately sought to achieve what the legislative branch specifically refused to authorize on multiple occasions. The nation must set and enforce a limit on how many immigrants we accept each year, and that means all cannot be accepted.
While this news brings an enormous amount of anxiety and stress on a community that has been on edge since the beginning of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, it's important to understand a few crucial things:
For example, if you are one of the 800,000 undocumented people that benefits from DACA you are still protected. However, as of today, if you were attempting to gain protection under DACA, the application will be denied.
The silver lining is that if your DACA permit was set to expire before March 5, 2018, you can apply for a two-year renewal. After that two year period, you will no longer have protection. If Congress doesn't come up with a solution within six months, some people could face deportation as early as March.
For those undocumented Americans who feel alone and let down by their government, they should know that you have more supporters than not.
ABC News is reporting that New York and Washington state attorney generals have already said they would sue Trump and the White House over cancellation of the DACA program. Thousands of people are protesting the decision right now all over the country, and it's extremely likely those demonstrations will continue until a civil decision is met. We also know that many members of congress are supportive of DACA, and not just Democrats but Republicans too.
Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican and House Rules Committee Chairman, said that he is in favor of coming up with a positive resolution. Yesterday on CNN, Rep. Sessions said that he sees congress passing an alternative to DACA in order for the undocumented people to remain in the country. "I think if we do it creatively and smart, we would even have the votes for that," Sessions said on CNN.
Because so many of the DREAMers that are protected under DACA are beneficial to the country, specifically boosting the economy, leaders in business and education will not stand for this kind of disruption and persecution. People will fight for DACA beneficiaries to remain the country, including President Obama.
While I am not a DACA recipient, I stand hand-in-hand with undocumented immigrants, as countless of people do. My heart breaks every time I see and hear our people being disregarded as if their life doesn't matter–but it does. We are human beings that deserve a right to live free. So if our government does not support us, then all we can continue to do is resist until they do.
