Trump’s Plan to Abolish DACA Faces Backlash
President Trump’s plan to build a border wall has caused a trickle-down effect on many other immigration programs or issues. DACA is a program that protects more than 800,000 undocumented youths. This program was created by former President Barack Obama to protect undocumented minors from immediate deportation. This program is available upon request for a period of two years, but does not give a lawful status to those illegal immigrants. With that said, the number of younger individuals immigrating to the United States or currently living in the U.S. may expect to see this program more difficult to be accepted into. According to Kaitlyn Schallhorn of Fox News, in order to request to be protected by DACA an individual, “must also have a high school diploma, GED certification, been honorably discharged from the military or still be in school. Recipients cannot have a criminal record”. This program was created to ensure the safety of the younger and innocent population that illegally immigrate to the United States.
As most people in the U.S. as well as people around the world know Trump has strong views on immigration. With this program in particular, he views DACA as “illegal amnesty”. His plan is to incorporate a stronger resistance to sanctuary cities. Currently, it is questionable as to what will come about on this topic. It has caused a rise in discussion with many surrounding this issue. Many politicians have strong comments about this issue ranging from one spectrum to another. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that this plan will create an “immigration system with integrity”. Whereas, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi claimed it, “fails to represent any attempt at compromise”. Hopefully, Trump can incorporate the past views of Obama in terms of protecting the younger population as well as blend his views on illegal immigration to create a program that resembles the beliefs of all.
I’m sure many students and faculty have their own opinions about Trump as well as the immigration issues. I interviewed one student on campus who discussed her personal beliefs regarding DACA and Trump’s plan to enforce stricter guidelines. Rebekah Groden, a junior here at DC, shared that this issue resonates with her personally as some of her family is from Puerto Rico. She stated that if Puerto Rico was not a U.S. territory that her grandpa would have been an “illegal immigrant.” This is turn would have affected her entire family. Rebekah also stated that, “Enforcing stricter guidelines for this program will only make things worse for children and that the they are innocent and could not control whether or not their family immigrated or not”. Therefore, she believes the children should not be punished for the issue of illegal immigration. It will be interesting to see how this program is changed or if it remains the same.
Written by Madysyn Creighton
