Trump Could Cut DACA Program, Ending Protection For 100K Texas Immigrants

AUSTIN, TX — Donald Trump could soon end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children from deportation, according to a published report.

McClatchy previously reported Trump is expected to announce the end of the program, an initiative by President Barack Obama designed that protected such youthful immigrants. The DACA program defers deportation for two years to those eligible for the program, although it does not grant legal status. After every two-year period, such protected immigrants are required to re-apply.

If the program is cut, it would disrupt the lives of 100,000 immigrants in Texas and more than 840,000 across the U.S. suddenly finding themselves at risk of deportation. Early speculation had it that an announcement into the program's future would come on Friday, but the White House later said it would be disclosed on Tuesday.

Trump in June ended a companion program, the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, which granted similar protections to undocumented immigrant parents with children born in the U.S. (and thus American citizens). That program deferred deportation with three-year renewable work permits before Trump axed it.

In potentially ending DACA, Trump appears to be succumbing to pressure from his own party, with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leading the charge. Just two weeks after Trump ended DAPA, Paxton wrote a letter to Trump urging him to end DACA too.

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“We respectfully request that the Secretary of Homeland Security phase out the DACA program,” Paxton wrote in a letter to Trump signed by nine other like-minded attorneys general. “Just like DAPA, DACA unilaterally confers eligibility for work authorization and lawful presence without any statutory authorization from Congress.”

With Paxton as head cheerleader for ending DACA, Texas was joined in calling for the program's end by his counterparts in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Idaho and West Virginia along with Idaho Gov. C.L. Otter. Paxton later upped the ante, recruiting those states in threatening to sue Trump if he didn't end DACA.

Paxton wrote that he would abandon plans for litigation if Trump complied with the request to end DACA by Sept. 5. To view a copy of the letter, click here.

To qualify for DACA, applicants must adhere to various criteria, including:

• Applicants must be under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012
• Immigrants must have arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16
• Those applying must have lived in the U.S. since June 15, 2007
• Applicants must have been in the U.S. on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making a request under DACA
• Applicants must be currently in school, graduated from high school, obtained a GED certificate or have been honorably discharged from the military
• Those applying for the DACA program must not have been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors

Of the more than 844,000 DACA applications that have been approved so far, roughly 100,000 are in Texas — second only to California with double that amount.

Even before Trump's decision, considerable outcry materialized opposing the likely move. "Dear @realDonaldTrump: If you end DACA, we will make your life impossible. Signed, The 5 million who marched on Jan. 21st," Women's March organizers tweeted.

Richard W. Painter, professor of law at the University of Minnesota, who was chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, tweeted: "DACA. We pay to educate them and help care for them as kids. Now they are adults and can work and pay taxes. Trump deports them. Is he nuts?"

In a subsequent tweet, Painter categorized a decision to end DACA as "stupid."

Michelle Tremillo, executive director of the Texas Organizing Project, urged for the retention of DACA.

“As President Trump deliberates the future of DACA, we hope he will do the right thing and allow it to continue," she wrote in a press advisory. “In its five years of existence, DACA has allowed more than 800,000 young people to live more freely and fully. They’ve pursued higher education, worked as nurses and teachers, bought houses and cars, and built a life outside of the shadows for a brief respite of living under a constant fear of deportation."

Not mincing words, Tremillo labeled those urging Trump to end DACA as white supremacists intent on targeting minorities.

“President Trump should resist the advice of people who espouse white supremacist views, who keep pushing him to wage an all out war on people of color, from harsher sentencing on drug offenses to a hyper aggressive deportation campaign," Tremillo said. "After failing to show moral leadership in his response to racist violence in Charlottesville, Trump can show that he is different from the people who shouted 'Blood and soil,' under the glow of Tiki torches."

Regardless of what Trump decides to do, Tremillo vowed to keep organizing gathering of dissent.

“Meanwhile, we will continue to organize ultimately what we need is a law that recognizes the humanity and contributions of all 11 million undocumented people. We will continue to fight state politicians like Ken Paxton, [Texas Governor] Greg Abbott and [Lt. Gov.] Dan Patrick who use their offices to push their racist agendas to criminalize and marginalize people of color," she said. "And we will continue to win local policies that help keep our communities safe.”

On Thursday, hundreds of entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the country released an open letter calling on Trump to preserve the DACA program and calling on Congress to pass the bipartisan DREAM Act "...or similar legislation that provides these young people raised in our country the permanent solution they deserve," the letter reads.

"All DACA recipients grew up in America, registered with our government, submitted to extensive background checks, and are diligently giving back to our communities and paying income taxes," the group of business leaders wrote. "More than 97 percent are in school or in the workforce, 5 percent started their own business, 65 percent have purchased a vehicle, and 16 percent have purchased their first home. At least 72 percent of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies count DACA recipients among their employees."

The cost of ending DACA would be considerable, both figuratively and literally, according to the letter's authors: "Unless we act now to preserve the DACA program, all 780,000 hardworking young people will lose their ability to work legally in this country, and every one of them will be at immediate risk of deportation. Our economy would lose $460.3 billion from the national GDP and $24.6 billion in Social Security and Medicare tax contributions."

The letter and current signatory list can be found here.

Also calling for preservation of DACA is a group of more than 100 mayors and county officials from 35 states. On Aug. 15, the group sent a letter to Trump calling him to continue the program until a legislative solution is enacted for all undocumented immigrant youth, known as Dreamers.

In the letter, the group outlined the contributions made by the nearly 800,000 individuals obtaining DACA in their communities:

• DACA recipients serve our localities in all kinds of critical roles—including medical professionals, teachers, and even municipal employees.
• 1.3 million young undocumented immigrants enrolled or immediately eligible for DACA contribute an estimated $2 billion a year in state and local taxes.
• This includes personal income, property, and sales and excise taxes. DACA-eligible individuals pay on average 8.9 percent of their income in state and local taxes.

The mayors signed on to the letter as part of Cities for Action, a coalition of more than 150 cities and counties, representing more than 55 million residents, leading on immigration action through federal advocacy and local programs.

“A third of Texas children have at least one parent who is an immigrant," Austin Mayor Steve Adler said. "This isn’t a political issue in Texas. This affects the real lives of millions of our neighbors.”

>>> Photo by Gage Skidmore