Dream Deferred: Austin Officials React To DACA Termination

AUSTIN, TX — Local reaction to the White House decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program was swift and robust on Tuesday.

The Obama-era DACA program protects more than 800,000 youthful immigrants nationwide from immediate deportation through the use of two-year renewable work permits. Dubbed DREAMers, the affected immigrants—some 120,000 in Texas alone—arrived to the the U.S. as children, most brought in by their parents. Enforcement on the rescinding has been delayed for six months in order to give members of the U.S. Congress time to offer a solution.

In ending the program, Donald Trump fulfills a campaign pledge to his political base effectively end the program. But instead of making the announcement himself, he left it to Attorney General Jeff Sessions to disclose the details of the program's dismantling. In a subsequent press conference, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders noted Trump acted to end the program today given a deadline set by several state attorneys general to sue if a decision wasn't made by Tuesday to end DACA.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led the charge in threatening the president of his own political party with litigation should the program not be ended by today. In doing so, Paxton recruited like-minded counterparts to join him with the threat of a lawsuit.

Shortly after the announcement, local officials weighed in. UT System Chancellor Bill McRaven said Congress must act quickly in providing a "bridge" enabling students brought into the U.S. without proper documentation as children to become full-fledged citizens.

"Our state and nation have benefited for decades by attracting and retaining great students, scholars, physicians, and researchers from around the world," McRaven said. "As I have said before, the men and women who show up on our shores and at our doors – ready to study, work, and participate – make us stronger, smarter, more competitive, and more attuned to the rest of our ever-shrinking globe. Over time, we have seen that their contributions and discoveries help us secure our nation, care for our people, foster economic growth, and provide scientific expertise and innovation that improves the human condition."

He lauded the immigrant influx, noting the embracing posture the UT system has historically adopted in welcoming them to its campuses.

"For years, Texas has supported students who were born in foreign countries but were brought here as children and raised in the U.S.," McRaven continued. "In fact, Texas was among the first states to grant these Texas high school graduates the opportunity to pay in-state tuition, a benefit The University of Texas System continues to support.

"These students consider themselves to be Americans and Texans, proud of the state they see as their home. They, like others, have served our nation with distinction in their academic pursuits, in our nation’s military, and as productive members of society," McRaven said. "This service should be applauded and honored. Our nation should recognize the potential in these students, granting them the opportunity to pursue their education and enter the workforce in this country."

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While university officials appreciate the concerns over how DACA originally was implemented (via an Obama executive action), McRaven said DACA-eligible residents should nonetheless be allowed to stay as productive members of society.

"The UT System will always follow the law," McRaven said. "And while I understand the concern of the President and others about how DACA was implemented, the critical fact is that I and the UT System believe in our DACA students and that their opportunities to contribute to Texas and our nation should be upheld and continued by our leaders in Washington. Congress must now act quickly to provide a bridge for these students to remain in the U.S. and become citizens."

The chancellor then addressed DREAMers enrolled at UT schools directly: "Let me also speak directly to you, our UT DACA students. You can be certain of our support as you continue to pursue your dreams – the American dream – to obtain an education and build a better future for you and your families. As UT adheres to federal and state laws regarding immigration, rest assured our campuses will remain places where you can safely study as Congress takes up this issue."

Noting the "fierce" nature of recruiting the best international students, scholars and researchers among universities, "We need loud and clear signals that the U.S. and Texas will continue to seek out the foremost talents in the world and welcome them to our institutions," McRaven said. "For its part, the UT System will always pursue young men and women from around the world who wish to learn, and the scholars and researchers who will train and educate them."

For his part, UT-Austin President Gregory L. Fenves said the decision to rescind the DACA program "greatly impacts" the university.

"It will dramatically change the lives of young people who were brought to the U.S. as children, some of whom have gone on to pursue an education at UT and universities across Texas and the nation," Fenves said. "DACA has provided an opportunity for hundreds of thousands of talented individuals to succeed and contribute to society."

Fenves was among hundreds of university presidents sending in November a letter to the then-president-elect urging for DACA to be maintained. Fenves said he would continue to join his counterparts nationwide in urging the Congress to act quickly in passing long-term legislation supporting DACA-eligible immigrants.

"Some of those young immigrants are UT students and they are vital members of our campus community," Fenves noted. "Each one of them is valued. Each one of them contributes to the UT experience."

Like McRaven, Fenves also addressed DACA students on campus, referring them to the university's International Office as "...an excellent resource for support and guidance..." Further information is available via the Longhorn DREAMers project, Fenves added.

"At The University of Texas we are defined and elevated by our students," Fenves said. "They come from many backgrounds and experiences to learn, to benefit from the diversity of the campus, to be ambitious and to serve. UT brings people together. We don’t benefit by shutting people out."

Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt issued a brief, two-sentence statement. In it, she also called for Congress to work in crafting meaningful legislation aimed at accommodating the DACA-eligible.

"My heart goes out to our DREAMers, whose dreams have been deferred yet again," Eckhardt said in a prepared statement. "Please join me in asking our members of Congress to act swiftly for a legislative solution restoring this compassionate program."

Austin Mayor Steve Adler issued a statement: "It would be shameful to deport children from the only home they’ve known, especially as Mexico leaps to assist with the Harvey relief effort and our City proudly offers shelter to all who need it. DACA was our country at its best. Congress must act now."

José P. Garza, the executive director of the Workers Defense Project nonprofit advocating for immigrants, suggested the decision to end DACA should be met with resistance from those supporting the program.

"In the history of our country, there have been laws that are immoral," Garza said via Facebook. "In our history, there there have been moments where we defy those laws. We should not turn our backs on our loved ones, co-workers and employees."

Austin City Council member Greg Casar—arguably the most vocal advocate for immigrants on the municipal dais—was more strident in his reaction, labeling as "abhorrent" and "unconscionable" the decision to end the DACA program.

“The decision by the Trump administration to attack 800,000 young people by terminating the DACA program is unconscionable and abhorrent," Casar said in a prepared statement. "Trump and his allies want to make it illegal for these young people to work and are threatening them with deportation. DACA recipients are people who have grown up here, who are working here, or attending college here – and are our friends and loved ones. Ending DACA serves only to oppress immigrants and to instill fear."

The councilman struck a less conciliatory note then other officials in envisioning congressional action, saying local immigrant advocates will take it upon themselves to quickly seek to protect those affected by Tuesday's decision.

"But we will not follow Trump's orders and simply wait on Congress to fix something they've left broken for decades," Casar said. "We will defend our sisters and brothers ourselves. As a city, we will fund immigrant legal defense services and we will refuse to let our police become deportation agents. We will fight to keep dreamers in their jobs and in their schools. We must come together as a community to take care of those whose jobs or homes are ripped away by this president," he said of Trump.

He, too, addressed DREAMers directly: "We will march in the streets and build solidarity. We will fight against the moral embarrassment that is the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who is leading the attacks against our young people. To those who are dreamers: I cannot tell you everything is going to be all right. Today will go down as a disgraceful, horrible day in our nation’s history. But we will not give up. We are with you to the end.”

But not everyone was unhappy with the announcement to end DACA. Paxton—who inserted himself into the debate as head cheerleader calling for the program's ending, complete with threat of litigation against his president—was palpably excited over Tuesday's announcement.

"I applaud President Trump for phasing out DACA," he began "As the Texas-led coalition explained in our June letter, the Obama-era program went far beyond the executive branch’s legitimate authority. Had former President Obama’s unilateral order on DACA been left intact, it would have set a dangerous precedent by giving the executive branch sweeping authority to bypass Congress and change immigration laws."

Paxton posited DACA as a "violation" of a presidential charge: "If ever there were a violation of the president’s duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’ DACA was it: President Obama unilaterally conferred lawful presence and work authorization, and then President Obama used that lawful-presence dispensation to unilaterally confer U.S. citizenship," Paxton said.

By day's end, Paxton upped his glee with a second advisory on his withdrawing of the threatened lawsuit against Trump given Tuesday's action. The headline to the second prepared statement: "AG Paxton Hails Victory Over Unlawful Obama-Era Immigration Programs," it reads.

"We dismissed our lawsuit after achieving victory on DACA and DAPA," Paxton said. "Both programs originated from Obama-era executive action creating far-reaching, class-based ‘deferred action’ programs and granting lawful presence and attendant benefits to qualifying applicants, without congressional authorization. Our lawsuit was always about the rule of law, not the wisdom of any particular immigration policy.”

>>> Photos by Tony Cantú, from Sept. 2 rally at Texas Capitol supporting the DACA measure