According to multiple reports, Donald Trump has planned to end the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. Trump will leave a six-month window before the decision goes into effect, prompting many to believe that a Trump could change his mind.
DACA, the Obama-era program aimed at offering immigrants, age 16 or younger at the time of arrival, offered the opportunity to work and attend school. Since the program's inception in 2012, the DACA program has granted roughly 800,000 people the ability to obtain drivers licenses, and work permits without the prospects of imminent deportation. Dreamers, as they are affectionately referred, could see their lives upended with the dissolving of the program. The potential ramifications of ending the program could have a devastating impact on Dreamers. If the 700,000 current DACA related work permits are not to be renewed, that could spell out a mass exodus of America's current workforce.
However, the move to deport Dreamers en-masse is a very unpopular notion, even for Republicans. Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan suggested that Trump retain DACA as currently constituted while Congress develops a long-term legislative solution. He was quoted during an interview with WCLO radio in Wisconsin as saying:
“These are kids that know no other country, who were brought here by their parents and don’t know another home, and so I really do believe there needs to be a legislative solution, that’s one that we’re working on.”
What are your thoughts on the DACA program and Trump's decision?
