Latino

Trump likely to end protections for ‘Dreamers’: report

by Rafael Bernal - 08/25/17 4:58 PM ET

President Trump is likely to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, NBC News reported Friday, citing government officials.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and senior officials discussed the Obama-era program at the White House on Thursday, after the Department of Homeland Security sent its official recommendation on how to proceed, according to NBC News.

The NBC report followed another one the previous day from Axios that said Trump was “seriously considering” canceling the program.

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Supporters of the program that President Obama established in 2012 to protect people brought to the U.S. illegally as children have been scrambling ahead of potential action from the Trump administration.

A group of 10 state attorneys general led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has threatened to challenge DACA in court unless Trump rescinds it by Sept. 5.

Under DACA, immigrants brought into the country illegally as children received a work permit and deferral from deportation.

The Trump administration has not yet said what it plans to do, and the Department of Justice has declined to say whether it will contest Paxton’s lawsuit.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday that the program “continues to be under review.”

Activists reacted forcefully to the reports this week, linking the potential termination of DACA to the events in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month, where a woman died after a suspect with ties to white supremacists allegedly drove his car into counterprotesters.

“Killing DACA is a white supremacist priority,” said Greisa Martínez, advocacy director for United We Dream, an immigrant youth advocacy organization.

“After Charlottesville, the fate of DACA will be the first major policy test of the Trump administration,” she said.

Trump has said he would treat DACA recipients “with heart,” and White House chief of staff John Kelly is seen as an internal advocate for program recipients.

But several administration officials, including Kelly, have raised doubts as to the legality of the program, given its origin as an executive order.

The legal case against DACA will likely follow the footsteps of the case against its sister program, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA).

That program was canceled in June by Trump, although a court injunction had blocked it from ever taking effect.

Nearly 800,000 people have signed on to DACA by submitting their personal information and passing a criminal background check.

Tags Jeff Sessions