Keep dreams alive
We have every reason to be suspicious of President Donald Trump’s motivations for doing away with DACA, a program created by President Barack Obama that allows undocumented immigrants to live and work legally in the U.S. if they were brought here as kids.
The fact of the matter is, all of Trump’s declarations that he’s simply upholding the Constitution by undoing a “usurpation” of power by Obama’s executive order ring hollow when held up next to Trump’s own, lengthy record of ignoring and even flouting the rule of law or checks and balances.
Trump’s entire presidency has been built on undoing any achievement made by the Obama administration. From pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement to rescinding federal LGBTQ protections to trying to overturn Obamacare, the only thing Trump has had to offer are negatives, with no clear outline of a new or different way forward.
On the surface, this most recent move to do away with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program offers a kick in the pants for Congress to finally act on immigration. I agree that it would be better and more legally sound for legislators to pass a law to codify the status of the Dreamers. In an ideal world, this would have happened long ago, with our lawmakers recognizing the importance of protecting people who are American in every way but on paper.
In all the years Obama was in office, lawmakers failed to act, gripped by partisan gridlock thanks to the Republican Party’s dogged refusal to go along or even compromise with anything ever touched by Democrats. Which is why Trump’s allegedly “considerate” move to give them six months now to act to pass a law before DACA expires is anything but. There’s little to inspire confidence in the ability of a fractured Republican Party to act.
The consequence will be that hundreds of thousands of people will be at risk for deportation and arrest. These are children and adults who have committed no crimes, who have built lives and families and careers in America. I can think of few greater sins than playing politics with people’s lives, but Trump found a way to add being a coward to the mix: The timing of his declaration coincided with a deadline set by several states to wind down DACA or face a lawsuit. Trump either was afraid to go to court or simply uninterested in standing up for vulnerable people (or both).
Plus, despite Trump’s Twitter platitudes, people will be at risk even during this six-month period. The Department of Homeland Security said that “those whose work permits expire through March 5, 2018, must apply for a renewal by Oct. 5 or have their permits expire and expose themselves to potential deportation.” There are approximately 154,000 DACA recipients whose permits will expire during that window and who could potentially fall through the cracks.
Going back to my ideal world, what Congress ought to do is write a bill specific to DACA and pass it. There will be pushes by Trump and others to spend these next six months hammering out a full immigration reform bill, but anyone paying attention knows there’s a snowball’s chance on the equator of passing something that complex and contentious in just half a year’s time.
Follow the example of Obama’s DACA order and build a law around it, then pass it. Call it Trump’s idea. Call it amnesty. Call it whatever you want — just get it done. Dreamers put their lives in our hands when they came forward to register with DACA. We should return the favor and remove the uncertainty and fear that many face. There is too much at stake not to act.