In what could be regarded as a massive blow to the immigrant community in the United States, the Donald Trump Administration earlier this week announced that it has scrapped an immigration programme designed to protect young undocumented immigrants, also referred to as “Dreamers”.
The policy, widely known as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) programme, was introduced by then President Barrack Obama in 2012. The programme was mainly designed to protect young illegal immigrants in the US from deportation, and provide temporary permits for work and study. The policy was created after acknowledgment that these young people had largely been raised in the US, and the policy was seen as a way to remove immigration enforcement attention from “low priority” individuals with good behaviour.
As expected, thousands of persons hoping to make the ‘American dream’ a reality took advantage of the programme from the time it was introduced five years ago, as they saw it as a means of eventually achieving US citizenship.
In order to qualify for DACA, applicants under the age of 30 submitted personal information to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). They had to go through an FBI background check and have a clean criminal record, and either be in school, recently graduated, or have been honourably discharged from the military. In exchange, the US Government agreed to “defer” any action on their immigration status for a period of two years.
Now that the present Government has taken a hardline approach to immigration issues, many of those who have benefited and are benefiting from the DACA programme are scared as to what lies ahead with regards to their future status in the country. The Government has said that, with immediate effect, no first-time applications for the programme will be considered. However, existing recipients will not be affected for at least six months.
In announcing its decision, the Trump Administration said: “Such an open-ended circumvention of immigration laws was an unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch”. It added that the effect of “this unilateral executive amnesty among other things contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border that yielded terrible humanitarian consequences. It also denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing those same illegal aliens to take those jobs”.
However, as expected, the announcement was met with much opposition from both within and outside Trump’s own party. According to the New York Times, Democrats and some Republicans, business executives, college presidents and immigration activists condemned the move as a coldhearted and shortsighted effort that was unfair to young immigrants and could harm the economy.
On his part, President Obama condemned the move as “cruel”, saying, “they were brought to this country by their parents, sometimes even as infants. They may not know a country besides ours. They may not even know a language besides English. They often have no idea they’re undocumented until they apply for a job, or college, or a driver’s licence… Kicking them out won’t lower the unemployment rate, or lighten anyone’s taxes, or raise anybody’s wages.” It is well known that Trump campaigned on a narrow, anti-immigrant and American nationalistic agenda; and it was bought by a majority of American voters. Caribbean nationals, including Guyanese, are among the millions of illegal immigrants living in the US, and they were anxiously waiting for the time when they could have their status regularised. For many of these immigrants, there is a lot of uncertainties regarding their future. It is still unclear as to how this issue will unfold in the coming months. Congress now has up to six months to find a legislative alternative. There is a likelihood of Congress being unable to hammer out a new comprehensive immigration policy, and beneficiaries could be at a risk of deportation. Then there is the option of taking the matter to court, as we have seen in previous cases. Also, some experts suggest that DACA could be replaced by new legislation, where current beneficiaries remain protected.
However the situation unfolds, at the moment, there is great fear and anxiety among “Dreamers”, as their immigration status could be changed with very short notice.
