This September, President Donald Trump announced he would phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Six months later, if Congress is unable to find a solution, nearly 700,000 DACA enrollees will start losing their protection at an alarming rate.
The Obama administration launched DACA to protect hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the U.S as children, granting them renewable work permits and residency rights. They are known as Dreamers.
The government spending bill must pass by December 22nd and Democrats will not vote in favor of any law unless measures to help DREAMers stay in the country get included. Which is unlucky for Republicans, as the bill requires a majority of votes from both sides in order to pass.
Republican leaders say they want to help Dreamers. They just don’t want to show it in the United States’ spending bill. They’ll take care of the problem separately, later on, they claim.
With Congress “later on” often means “never,” immigration advocates say. They would know since it wouldn’t be the first time it has happened.
Members of both parties are trying to find a compromise because, without a new funding bill by Saturday, the government will shut down. One of the main issues stands on deciding how long until DREAMers can apply for citizenship.
Democrats prefer a 5-year waiting time and Republicans state it should take DACA recipients from 10 to 15 years. For the Republican side to consider any deal on DACA, it must include wall funding and broader border immigration security measures.
The Trump plan calls for all business to begin use of E-Verify to screen the immigration status of job applicants. The White House also wishes to reduce the number of immigrants accepted into the U.S. each year.
In order to do so, it proposes to begin selecting people based on their potential economic contributions rather than family relationships with U.S. citizens to end “chain migration.” Although Republicans’ forcefulness on the matter varies, these requirements make it harder for Democrats to support the bill.
During his campaign and his first year in office, Trump expressed sympathy for the young undocumented immigrants who didn’t come to the U.S. on their volition. However, he has spent more time focused on deportation and wall enforcement rather than finding a solution for Dreamers.
If Congress does nothing, about 1,400 DACA enrollees will lose their protection each day. This means losing work permits, college enrollments, and financial aid.
This article was inspired by USA TODAY // Congress faces deadline to save DREAMers, which could come to a head this week