‘Dreaming’ on
Trump will allow some immig work permits
WASHINGTON — President Trump won’t cut off work permits for Dreamers, immigrants brought to the U.S. as children who have registered with the government, the administration announced late Thursday night.
The move is the most solid sign yet that Trump will make good on his post-election promise not to go after that specific group of immigrants, a reversal of his campaign rhetoric.
The program’s permanent fate, however, remains unclear.
Administration officials said Friday afternoon that no final decision had been made.
“The future of the DACA program continues to be under review with the administration,” Jonathan Hoffman, an assistant secretary for public affairs at Homeland Security, said in a statement.
Homeland Security had issued guidance overnight that says those who have work permits through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program won’t see those permits yanked, and can apply for extensions when their current permits end.
It isn’t all good news for immigrant rights activists, however.
The announcement came as part of the Trump administration’s decision to reverse former President Barack Obama’s expansion of the program, which would have created another to allow the parents of those children to stay in the U.S. as well. The expansion had been tied up in the courts and never went into practice.
“DACA recipients who were issued three-year extensions before the district court’s injunction will not be affected, and will be eligible to seek a twoyear extension upon their expiration. No work permits will be terminated prior to their current expiration dates,” the guidance reads.
The announcement was met with mixed feelings from advocates and immigrants.
“The only certainty in Trump’s America is uncertainty — and no memoranda changes that. They’re trying to distract us with their back-and-forth on DACA as their mass deportation machine proceeds full speed ahead,” said Lorella Praeli, director of immigration policy and campaigns at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Dreamer Iljirijana Glavatovic said, “I could breathe easy for now.”
“I was scared,” said Glavatovic, a 23-year-old paralegal who came to the U.S. at age six months with her dad to escape war-ravaged Montenegro. “I didn’t know what would happen to me if (this) was taken away.”
“Without DACA I wouldn’t be able to have a job. Without DACA, my options are limited,” she said.
Trump has signaled since early in his presidency that DACA cases would likely be exempted from his crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
He had derided the program as “illegal amnesty” during the campaign, but promised afterwards to treat those brought here as children “with heart.”