DACA recipients call on Trump to not rescind the ‘Dreamer’ program

In the past few weeks, President Donald Trump announced that he will be ending a program that gives protection to undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children and young adults.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is a program that prevents young adults from being deported. It is an executive order created in 2012 during the Obama administration which allows 800,000 immigrants to live, overstay visas and be employed in the U.S. If revoked, they would be deported without the renewal of permits on March 5, 2018.

Trump proposed to end the program within the next six months, with the possibility of Congress passing a legislative alternative of assessing individual status in the program, according to the Associated Press.

On Sept. 8, House Speaker Paul Ryan requested Trump to hold off on terminating the program until Congress irons out the details. The six-month window will hold off for pending requests from Congress.

To be eligible for DACA or to be a "Dreamer," one has to be younger than 31-years-old before June 2012, or if the recipient came to America before 16 and have lived here consecutively since 2007. The recipient also cannot qualify if they have a criminal record.

In a press conference to the Justice Department, Attorney General Jeff Sessions expressed his thoughts on the program, saying that the order created by Obama was “unconstitutional and an executive branch overreach."

For DACA recipients who are working on applications for an EAD, or Employment Authorization Documents, they are currently being rejected by the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, or USCIS, but will begin to adjudicate on individual basis as early as Oct 5.

Robert Mccarthy, junior at Coastal Carolina, said this is not a good move by Trump.

“A lot of the people that would suffer from deportation are my age or younger," said Mccarthy. "They are good, smart, hard-working people that should definitely be given a chance.”

Trump said in a recent tweet that his ageny's main objective is to target DACA recipients who have “committed crimes, are security threats and are recent border crossers.”

Isabella Weisman, sophomore at CCU, said she will be impacted personally if the DACA program is ended.

“I have many friends who know nothing else besides the U.S.," said Weisman. "They love it here and they call it home. They contribute and help with their community. It would be ethically wrong to kick them to the curb.”

As the next few months unravel, Congress will determine if they wish to terminate DACA indefinitely or create a legislative alternative.