Prez is cruelly playing with innocent lives

THIS FIGHT ISN’T OVER

President Obama giveth, President Trump taketh away. In a cynical attempt to pressure Democrats to support his anti-immigrant, buildthe-wall agenda, word is that the President is planning to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), one of the most successful immigration programs in decades. Think of it: Of the approximately 800,000 young people granted DACA, 95% are in school or working. In just five years with legal status, 12% have bought homes. Frustrated in trying to get Mexico (or for that matter, the American people) to pay for his promised southern border wall, our petulant President is taking it out on young immigrants, brought here before age 16, who had graduated high school or who were studying, and who had passed criminal background checks. With DACA, they got the right to stay here without fear of deportation and with the right to work. These Dreamers didn’t choose to make America their home, but once here, they certainly have made the best of it. Word is Trump will announce a six-month extension of the program. If it ends before Congress acts to save it, hundreds of thousands of DACA youths will eventually lose their right to be here, and their right to work. This at a time when the Labor Department reports millions of jobs are going unfilled. Houston has 65,000 folks with DACA. Don’t we need them to help clean up? Despite the disappointing news, Dreamers need not panic. I doubt Trump and his Homeland Security Department will use DACA application information to arrest and deport Dreamers. Some Dreamers have paths to legal status or defenses against deportation, and volunteer lawyers across the nation are there to help. This fight isn’t over. Six months is an eternity in this battle. With the audacity and fearlessness of youth, we can count on Dreamers to continue to fight. Their employers, education leaders and millions of supporters and friends will make their voices heard. And I can assure you those voices will be loud. We need only remember that President Barack Obama announced DACA in 2012 only after Dreamers staged a sit-in in his presidential campaign offices. The Dreamers know how to wage this war. With Trump’s action, the ball passes to Congress. A new Dream Act would provide “DACAmented” youth protection from Trump’s whims and give a path to permanent legal status, and, eventually, the right to apply for U.S. citizenship. Dozens of senators and representatives have spoken out in defense of DACA. They’ve talked the talk; we’ll see if they now walk the walk.