All Opinion content represents its authors’ viewpoint.
by Suzane Jlelati & Elise Tran, staff writers
Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump announced that he will be ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), causing about 800,000 undocumented immigrants to be deported in six months time.
Created under former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2012, DACA was implemented to give opportunities for undocumented immigrants under the age of 16, known as “DREAMers.” These include a temporary pardon from being deported, a driver’s license and most importantly, the ability to work.
Trump has expressed his immense desire to end DACA through his constant, unfiltered tweets saying, ”Congress, get ready to do your job — DACA!”.
Dating back to the beginning of his presidential run, Trump has been an advocate against illegal immigrants. By ending this program, he has fulfilled his promise in ending Obama’s “unconstitutional” executive order.
Obama has been a loyal supporter of the DACA program since he first created it and hearing the news that Trump was planning on ending it was a sure sign of worry and disappointment. Obama released a statement on Tuesday urging Congress to protect everyone who is part of the program.
Obama has stated in a previous speech that, “[DACA] is not a path to citizenship…This is a temporary stop gap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented and driven, patriotic young people.”
Since one must be brought into the states prior to turning 16 years old, a majority of their lives are spent in here. Many DREAMers consider the United States their home and a place of comfort. With Trump’s plan to deport them, he is deliberately placing them in an unfamiliar area.
DREAMers are an integral part of not only society, representing that all immigrants who work hard deserve a chance in life, but they have proven themselves as worthy not only in the economy but by destroying the stigma of illegal immigrants being dangerous and a waste of resources.
Although Trump might be a “patriotic” person, he has stated in a speech that, “I want to work with Congress, Republicans, and Democrats on a plan that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-work, and pro-American.” Numerous of times he has stated in speeches and tweets that he wants the best for the Americans and to create more jobs, so isn’t it a bit hypocritical to unemploy 91% of DACA recipients?
According to multiple news reports and figures, the end of this program not only means losing thousands of self acclaimed Americans, but billions of dollars in the economy. This will hurt us if those jobs are not replaced with legal citizens quickly.
Many supporters of the removal of DACA claim that DREAMers take numerous job spots from citizens, but the numbers prove this situation wrong. According to the United States Department of Labor, there were 6.2 million unfilled job in the last business day of July. Approximately 91% of DREAMers are legally employed, according to the National Immigration Law Center. Their deportation would cause them to lose everything and it’s morally wrong to proudly take away someone’s job after tirelessly working to achieve it just because of their legal status.
Most recently, 15 states and District of Columbia have sued Trump’s arrangement in hopes to prevent DACA from ending.
Days prior to the announcement of dissolving the program, rallies began forming all over the nation. Even today, rallies are being made in response to Trump’s declaration and are being put into action. Protesters are standing their ground and showing their support for DACA and human equality.
All DREAMers deserve to stay in the United States without the worry of being deported. With the removal of DACA comes more turmoil for this country and obstacles for many individuals.
