So, we all know that the Trump White House has decided to nix the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program under Obama. The official announcement occurred today, though we caught a preview of what was to come on Sunday evening. The program, created by executive action, allows those who entered the U.S. as minors to be shielded from deportation if they meet certain requirements. Recipients can then be granted work or study permits. You have to renew your application every two years. The constitutionality of this program has been in question, with Axios’s Jonathan Swan adding that this was one of the reasons the Trump White House was moving towards nixing the program. It is a separation of powers issue, and the Department of Homeland Security has mentioned that if Congress wants to keep DACA as it is—they should pass a law. Around 800,000 illegal aliens benefit from DACA and as the Daily Beast’s Betsy Woodruff noted, they’re all vulnerable to deportation. For starters, to be shielded under DACA, you need to prove that you are here illegally:
1/ One of the reasons DACA recipients are now incredibly vulnerable: In deportation proceedings, the gov must prove someone is undocumented
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 4, 2017
2) DACA recipients - in order to receive DACA - give the gov paperwork showing how they became undoc'd (visa expiration or illegal entry)
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 4, 2017
3/ They trusted the gov w that info. Sharing it w US gov => huge, huge demonstration of trust
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 4, 2017
4/ Sharing that info made them *extra* vulnerable to deportation *if* the gov decides to use it
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 4, 2017
5/ To get DACA, you had to trust the US gov in a rare, extraordinary way.
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 4, 2017
Q of the night: What does the gov do w that trust?
6/ Some imm attys told me in Nov they specifically advised clients AGAINST getting DACA bc they didn't think the US gov deserved that trust
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 4, 2017
8/ Congress will face enormous pressure to protect DACA recipients. But Congress has been resisting pressure on immigration for decades now
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 4, 2017
9/ Deportation proceedings are civil, not criminal. One immigration judge once told me its like hearing death penalty cases in traffic court
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 4, 2017
Woodruff also wrote about this a few days after Trump win the election last year:
For DREAMers, Trump’s presidency could be a nightmare.
Almost a million undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children trusted the federal government with their personal information—including their home addresses—so they could gain temporary protection from deportation.
But under the Donald Trump administration, that could make them targets; in a brutal twist of irony, their faith in American institutions could actually increase their risk of being forcibly removed from the country.
[…]
“On that document, it specifically states when you were supposed to have departed,” explained Matthew Kolken, an immigration attorney. “That would be proof that you were a visa overstay.”
Kolken told The Daily Beast that he advised most of his clients against applying for DACA because he worried an administration hostile to undocumented immigrants could use the information they turned over against them.
“It puts a target on your back,” he said. “There is absolutely no way to predict what Donald Trump or anyone else would do.”
There’s a reason why DREAMers are preparing for the worst. Guy had a more in-depth post about this matter earlier this morning.
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