Despite previous statements indicating that the president wanted to protect Dreamers, the Trump administration is now calling DACA recipients “illegal aliens” and encouraging them to self-deport.
DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a program that began under President Barack Obama which allows people who came to the United States as children no later than June 15, 2007, and meet other requirements, to live and work in the United States. The program provides them with no pathway to citizenship.
There are more than half a million DACA recipients living in the United States. Many have been in the U.S. for most of their lives and are now raising families of their own.
“This is not new or news. Illegal aliens who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not automatically protected from deportations,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Truthout in a statement. “DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country. Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons including if they’ve committed a crime.”
She continued: “Illegal aliens can take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $1,000 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live [the] American dream.”
McLaughlin has provided other news outlets with identical statements.
The administration’s statement conflicts with what President Donald Trump said in December, shortly after his election.
“We have to do something about the Dreamers,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I will work with the Democrats on a plan.” He said that many Dreamers had “become successful” and “have great jobs.”
Dreamers is the term sometimes used to refer to DACA recipients, as well as people who came to the United States as children but were too young to qualify for DACA.
Despite Trump’s statements on “Meet the Press,” he began his attacks on DACA during his first term when he attempted to end the program, but was blocked by the courts. Now in his second term, his assaults on the program have only intensified. In June, Health and Human Services announced that DACA recipients were no longer considered “lawfully present” and, effective August 25, were barred from participating in the health care marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act. An estimated 10,000 DACA recipients will lose their coverage.
Since Trump took office, federal agents have detained and attempted to deport DACA recipients. On June 12, masked federal officers abducted Javier Diaz Santana, a DACA recipient who is deaf and mute, from his workplace in Temple City, California.
“They tried to talk to me,” Diaz Santana told NBC 4 Los Angeles. “They tried to see if I could talk. I couldn’t talk. I pulled out my phone to try to communicate, but they took it away.”
Diaz Santana says the agents took his Real ID and wallet, and handcuffed him. He asked them to remove the handcuffs so he could sign, but they refused and denied his request for a sign language interpreter. Diaz Santana was detained in Texas for weeks until his detention hearing, when he was ordered to be released.
“I have DACA,” he told the local news outlet. “I’ve already applied. I went through the steps. I thought everything was fine. I was doing everything, following everything.”
Congress’ failure to codify protections for DACA recipients have left them vulnerable to the Trump administration’s racist mass deportation agenda — the majority of recipients were born in Mexico — as well as ongoing legal challenges. Despite its widespread popular support, Congress has not passed the DREAM Act, first introduced more than two decades ago, which would allow Dreamers to attain lawful permanent residency if they meet certain criteria.
In July, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) introduced legislation that would update the Registry provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which was enacted in 1929, to allow people who have lived in the United States for at least seven years and have no criminal record to apply for a green card, which would provide them lawful permanent status.
Currently, the Registry only provides a pathway to citizenship for people who have lived in the United States since January 1, 1972 and meet other criteria. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) introduced companion legislation in the House.
Padilla says that Republicans have voiced support for protecting Dreamers in private, and he’s urging them to take a public stand. In June, Padilla was forced to the ground and handcuffed after he attempted to question DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about the Trump administration’s immigration policies. (The senator’s own record on human rights is mixed. A recipient of AIPAC donations, Padilla voted against Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vermont) resolution to stop arms sales to Israel, despite the growing consensus that the country is committing genocide.)
“Make no mistake, Americans will not soon forget what this Administration is doing to their neighbors — to their neighbors, to their co-workers, to their friends,” Padilla said on the Senate floor. “Now, this story doesn’t end the way you think it might, because we will continue fighting, not just to stop these outrageous arrests, but we will not rest until we enact real and permanent protections for DACA recipients who contribute so much to our country.”
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