Washington, August 29 (RHC)-- Immigrant rights advocates say U.S. President Donald Trump could soon cancel DACA -- the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals -- a policy granting legal protection to nearly 800,000 young undocumented immigrants to live and work in the United States.
The acting heads of the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) met last week to discuss DACA’s future, as Republican governors from ten states threatened to sue the Trump administration if it doesn’t cancel DACA by September 5th.
It’s not clear whether Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions would mount a defense of DACA in court, and the federal judge who would preside over a court challenge, Andrew Hanen, previously ruled against President Obama’s immigration policies.
Meanwhile, McClatchy reported that top Trump advisers, including General John Kelly -- Trump’s chief of staff -- along with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, are pushing a deal that would preserve DACA in exchange for legislation that pays for a border wall and more detention facilities, curbs legal immigration, and implements the E-verify program to check immigration statuses.
In response, Lorella Praeli of the American Civil Liberties Union, said: "We have 800,000 examples of why DACA strengthens America and why this program should stay in place. DACA is successful, popular, and constitutional, and should stay on the books until Congress passes a clean legislative solution to address Dreamers’ status."