Tuesday, September 5, 2017

On DACA, President Trump Has No Easy Path


Image result for trump and daca
President Trump is in a sticky situation due to the matter of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals(DACA), an Obama era executive immigration order implemented in June of 2012. The policy protects over 800,000 undocumented immigrants from being deported. Mr. Trump mentioned throughout his presidential campaign that he would scrap the program if elected for office, but now that he is in office he faces the difficult decision of ousting immigrants that were promised security under DACA due to a deadline by the courts. Legally, what is the best course of action for Mr. Trump to take? Will Mr. Trump change his mind on the issue? Should childhood arrivals be granted amnesty or a path to citizenship?

*UPDATE* Obama's Position

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Despite a lot of Trump's extreme rhetoric regarding deportation, I think that he realizes that it is not realistic to follow through with such programs in light of his promise to cut taxes. He is already facing the fallout from Hurricane Harvey, and the administration is going to have to fork over millions or even billions of dollars to provide aid to victims of the storm. This should be his priority, not deporting undocumented immigrants. Not to mention, he will have to heavily bolster his police force in order to conduct these deportations, which will cost more money and make it nearly impossible to lower taxes while keeping the budget deficit under control. As for DACA itself, I personally believe that people who came to the U.S. as minors should not be vulnerable to deportation. Many of these people grew up calling the U.S. "home," and it was not their decision for their parents to bring them here in the first place. I really don't think that any immediate action is going to be taken to deport all of these people.

Anonymous said...

I believe that instead of deporting these individuals, they should be given a path to citizenship. Since these individuals have come to the U.S. when they were minors, they have essentially grown up as Americans, even if legally they are not classified as that. To send away these individuals who contribute to our society with their talents, hardwork, and loyalty, is not only cruel to them, but also to our country as we will be losing people who added value to our country. I think that for now, President Trump should allow these minors to remain as they are, and then after more pressing troubles have been dealt with(Hurricane Harvey, as Daniel mentioned earlier), then he can focus on granting citizenship to these individuals.

Julia Lee said...

Today, President Trump has ordered to end DACA and as early as March, some of 800,000 young adults will become eligible for deportation. In response to Trump's decision, Obama has spoken out saying that “Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn’t threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us.”
I completely agree with Obama's statement. I think that Trump's decision is wrong and cruel. President Trump should allow these young adults to remain in this country in which they grew up in. It is their home as much as ours whether or not they are legally classified as citizens.

Unknown said...

I really don't think it was a good for Trump to get rid of the executive order establishing DACA before there was an act of Congress to replace it. As others have already noted the United States Congress has enough on its plate right now with Harvey and Irma to deal with immigration reform as well. It would be extremely sad if the Dreamers were to be expelled simply because Congress did not get around to creating legislation. If I were Donald Trump I would have waited until DACA could be made legal through an act of Congress before repealing it, and even if I had repealed it I would have extended the deadline far beyond the current one. While the executive act establishing DACA was certainly illegal, we are now stuck dealing with it. The solution is not to throw away 800,000 people who have done nothing except make a home in the only country they have ever known.

Unknown said...

I believe the Trump administration is coming to the realization that enacting deportation legislature (such as the removal of DACA) is unfeasible, both in terms of finances and in terms of time. Similar to what Daniel said, not only does the Trump administration have more pressing matters at the forefront of its agenda that are in more of an immediate need for finances, but to enforce something as large-scale as deportations in such a trying time will only end up proving detrimental to raising enough finances for the nation. Many people protected under DACA’s provisions pay taxes to our federal government, which keeps the budget deficit in check and help alleviate other problems in our nation. Because undocumented immigrants do their part help the country financially, I do not believe the Trump administration will follow through with deporting them due to how beneficial they are to the nation. In fact, I would argue that their contributions to American society is what makes them inherently American, not their documented status. Instead, they should be granted paths to citizenship, which would benefit both the federal government and undocumented immigrants.

Anonymous said...

I agree with most of the comments above in that Trump should not end DACA. The United States is already trillions of dollars into debt so the Trump Administration must use their resources wisely. Therefore, spending millions of dollars, on deporting minors that have grown up in American society is unwise considering the other, more prominent, issues going on such as our educational system, health insurance, terrorism, not to mention the intense storms hitting the States and causing millions of dollars in damage.
Not only we not have the resources to waste on this matter but it also seems a bit unethical to deport minors who grew up in the United States. They are accustomed to American Society and take part in American Culture and are "americanized," for a lack of better words, and are just simply missing the help to officially be American Citizens due to the strict and rash immigration laws put in place by Trump. I agree that the Unites States should slow immigration into the country but I do not agree with deporting people who have grown up in the American System.

Unknown said...

Legally, the best path forward for Trump would have been to wait for Congress to pass a bill replicating DACA. Giving a six-month delay to the end of DACA demonstrates that he wishes for it to be replaced, yet just waiting for a bill without undoing DAVA is an easier way to replace it without throwing the lives of almost a million immigrant families into chaos.

Trump continues to flipflop on the issue of Dreamers, seemingly caught between following up on cruel promises to remove protections for the nearly 5 million people covered under DACA and DAPA, and actually showing empathy for non-white people. It's hard to tell which path he will follow as he is both prone to not following up on his promises, and not caring for the livelihoods of people of color.

Unknown said...

The best thing that Trump could have done is not mentioned DACA at all, and then slowly enacted his plan of deportation through using information collected by DACA surveys. The mass deportation of people, based on information meant be secure, would be quite immoral, but it would further Trumps political agenda of deporting all foreign people. However, Trump has been defeated by his own self once again. DACA is moral and the right thing to do, given that many of these people have never even lived out of the united states. Deportation of those who illegally immigrated while a child would be immoral, because they are in essence more American than anything else, living here all their life. By speaking out against something that is so obviously moral and honorable, Trump has let congress even question if DACA should be implemented into a full out law. Trump is on the wrong side of the ethical battle, buying into a system punishing children based on parental action. It is in the presidents best interest to switch sides on this topic to at least seem as if he has some morality in him.