End of DACA to hit thousands of Indians

IT IS NOT YET CLEAR AS TO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO PEOPLE WHO CURRENTLY HAVE WORK PERMITS UNDER THE PROGRAMME

President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to end a programme that protected undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children from deportation and that has benefitted an estimated 800,000 people of whom close to 8,000 are from India.

The likely announcement on Tuesday could include a delayed trigger-period of six months for Congress to enact a law to replace the current regulation — called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — which was instituted through an executive order by President Barack Obama in 2012.

While most of those granted DACA are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru—the top five countries of origin—7,881 for them came from India, data published by the US Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) showed.

The Migration Policy Institute, which studies immigration in the US, said in a report in 2016 there were 1.9 million people eligible for DACA and 22,000 of them were from India, which has also emerged as a top country of origin for legal immigrants. News reports, citing unidentified administration officials, suggested the White House has informed Congress of the move, but indicated the president could still change his mind. Trump had promised to end the programme during his campaign, but has also said he would “deal with DACA with heart”.

It’s an emotive issue as it involves immigrants who were brought illegally by parents as children and who grew up in the US knowing no other country or culture; they have probably never been to their countries of origin.

But it’s also a political issue tied to the larger question of illegal immigrants. A large number of Republicans, including attorney general Jeff Sessions are opposed to legalisation their status, calling it amnesty.