Trump expected to end DACA program
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expected to announce that he will end protections for young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, but with a six-month delay, people familiar with the plans said Sunday.
The delay in the formal dismantling of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program would be intended to give Congress time to decide whether it wants to address the status of affected immigrants in legislation, according to two people familiar with the president’s thinking.
But it was not immediately clear how the sixmonth delay would work in practice and what would happen to people who currently have work permits under the program, or whose permits expire during the six-month stretch.
It also was unclear what would happen if Congress failed to pass a measure by the considered deadline. Two people familiar with the president’s thinking spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter ahead of a planned Tuesday announcement.
Trump has been wrestling for months with what to do with the Obamaera DACA program, which has given nearly 800,000 young immigrants a reprieve from deportation and the ability to work legally in the form of twoyear, renewable work permits.
The expected move would come as the White House faces a Tuesday deadline set by Republican state officials threatening to sue the Trump administration if the president did not end the program.
It also would come as Trump digs in on appeals to his base as he finds himself increasingly under fire, with his poll numbers hanging at near-record lows.