DACA - Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

Established under the Obama administration in 2012, DACA is an immigration policy that allows people who came to the U.S. as children to receive a renewable two year period of deferred action from deportation. It also stipulates that those same people are eligible for work permits within the United States. Those people protected under DACA are called "dreamers." The name "dreamers" comes from the DREAM Act proposal which offered legal status in return for going to college or joining the military. 

To be eligible for DACA, applicants must have entered the U.S. before their 16th birthday and prior to June, 2007, be currently in school or a high school graduate (or honorable discharged from military service), be under 31 as of June 15, 2012, not be convicted of a felony or serious misdemeanor, or be a threat to national security. When DACA was announced, it was estimated that 1.76 million people were eligible for the program. Since its implementation, 787,580 people have been approved for the program. 

In November, 2014, President Obama tried to expand DACA eligibility to include those who had entered the U.S. before 2010 and those not under 31. However, Texas and 25 countries with Republican governors sued a District Court in Texas, resulting in an injunction blocking the expansion. The case made its way to the Supreme Court where it resulted in a 4-4 vote that left the injunction in place. 

DACA has been unpopular among some Republican legislators since its inception. Several months ago, 10 state attorney generals sent a letter to Trump demanding that he end DACA or face a legal challenge. Previously, Trump had expressed his support of dreamers, though faced with pressure from anti-immigration Republicans, he is expected to announce on Tuesday, September 5, that he will be ending DACA.