Civic Register
| 8.30.17

Should Undocumented Kids Be Treated Differently from Adults?

Join us and tell your reps how you feel!

What’s the story?

It all started with a letter. Attorneys General from ten states demanded that Jeff Sessions, the federal government's top prosecutor, rescind Obama-era rules for how immigration authorities deal with young, undocumented immigrants. Those rules, officially called 'Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals' or DACA, instruct the agency known as ICE, 'Immigration and Customs Enforcement,' to de-emphasize so-called 'dreamers' in its law enforcement measures.

Rescinding the DACA guidelines would put young, undocumented immigrants, the vast majority of whom were brought here by their parents, in the same category as adults who chose to enter the U.S. illegally.

Those conservative state AGs warned the Justice Department that if DACA isn't rescinded by September 5th, they would file a lawsuit against the federal government.

Why does it matter?

The letter, signed by the AGs of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Nebraska, Arkansas, South Carolina, Idaho, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kansas, as well as the Governor of Idaho, C.L. ‘Butch’ Otter argues that DACA is unlawful and threatens to take the federal government to court over it:

"If, by September 5, 2017, the Executive Branch agrees to rescind the June 15, 2012 DACA memorandum and not to renew or issue any new DACA or Expanded DACA permits in the future, then the plaintiffs that successfully challenged DAPA and Expanded DACA will voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit currently pending in the Southern District of Texas. Otherwise, the complaint in that case will be amended to challenge both the DACA program and the remaining Expanded DACA permits.”

The date of September 5 is entirely arbitrary, however, and not tied to any government deadlines. HuffPo refers to it as ‘meaningless’, since to rescind DACA is and has always been at the discretion of the president. Also, even if the group were able to amend their existing suit to challenge DACA, it would be months before the case moved through the court system such that it could actually affect policy.

So far, President Trump has prolonged the program, saying that the so-called DREAMers should ‘rest easy’, but he has made no promises to preserve it into the future.

Some Republicans seek the complete elimination of protections for undocumented immigrants, regardless of whether they were brought here as children, like the DACA-covered group. Some believe that amnesty should be extended to the group, but that Congress should be the ones to do it. They seek the elimination of DACA, which was created by executive order by President Obama, to be replaced by immigration legislation enacted by Congress.

Supporters of DACA argue that DACA leads to positive educational and economic outcomes and should be preserved.

What do you think?

Should President Trump heed the threat issued in the letter and rescind DACA? Do you think the threat is arbitrary and should be ignored? Should DACA be maintained or eliminated? If you think it should be eliminated, do you think there should be another vehicle for the nearly 800,000 DACA-eligible immigrants to pursue legal residency?

Use the Take Action button to tell your reps what you think!

— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Samal Skot via Flickr/ Creative Commons)

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