President Donald Trump took to Twitter Tuesday morning to further suggest an end to President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), tweeting "Congress, get ready to do your job - DACA!" The Trump Administration has been mulling over the future of the program enacted by President Obama in June 2012 that offers extended protection to US residents brought into the country illegally when they were young children. As of Monday, September 4, 2017, Donald Trump has indicated DACA will be halted with a grace period of six months. In the process of targeting those in the DACA program though, Donald Trump is focusing on the wrong group of immigrants.
Who are the DREAMERS of DACA?
When President Obama enacted the DACA program in 2012, the goal was to offer protection to individuals living in the United States who were brought to the country by their parents as children. These individuals had no say in the decision, and at this point in their lives have no home to go back to in their nation of origin. Today, the DACA program offers protection from deportation for 800,000 registered immigrants, known as Dreamers.
As Javier Palomarez pointed out in an interview with CNN on Tuesday morning, these individuals are not the criminals or "bad hombres" that Donald Trump has focused on removing from the country. Mr. Palomarez, President & CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Trump administration's Diversity Council, notes the value of the individuals enrolled in DACA.
America is a land of immigrants, and the nation's economy relies on the contributions of citizens from all walks of life.
Mr. Palomarez points out that individuals enrolled in DACA have undergone background checks and have no criminal record. To qualify for protection, DREAMERS must currently be in school or have recently graduated.
Of those 800,000 individuals enrolled, 65,000 are graduating from high school each year, and 10,000 are graduating from college each year. These are not criminals and "bad hombres," like the members of the MS13 street gang. DREAMERS strive to contribute to America.
Donald Trump dumps problem on Congress
Americans from both sides of the political spectrum can agree the nation's approach to immigration needs a serious overhaul, though how the country achieves that goal is a matter of intense debate.
For the value that DACA brings in protecting those who came to this country through no choice of their own, DACA does have flaws. Chief among them is the lack of a clear path to citizenship for DREAMERS.
However, President Donald Trump's proposal to end DACA with a six-month delay to allow Congress to craft a fix is short sighted. Average Americans aren't the only ones who can't agree on immigration policies. Congressional members can't agree either, and the likelihood of an immigration fix to protect DREAMERS materializing in six months is low. Although the Trump administration had recently promised to treat DREAMERS with "heart," ending DACA exhibits anything but heart. Most importantly, it distracts from the focus on immigration-related issues such as the rise of the MS13 street gang. Donald Trump needs to refocus on those in this country illegally who pose an actual threat.
