US Protesters Demonstrate Termination of DACA Program

Local Editor

After months of speculation that President Donald Trump would seek to end the program, which protects illegal immigrants who entered the US before they were 16 from deportation, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the repeal of the Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals Act [DACA] at a press conference on Tuesday.

The repeal includes a six-month grace period before the policy becomes defunct, giving Congress a window to deliberate and pass alternate legislation.

The announcement sparked a huge flurry of reactions on the internet and on the street; some with praise for the Trump administration and others with severe condemnation.

According to the Denver Post, about 17,000 immigrants in Colorado are enrolled in DACA. Prior to the repeal, Colorado University issued a statement that they would continue to accept students "without regard to their immigrations status."

Protestors outside the Department of Justice sat down in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue, impeding traffic and chanting "sí se puede," the Spanish version of Obama's iconic "yes we can" refrain that punctuated his 2008 campaign for president.

The protestors then moved to sit outside the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement office.

Human rights organizations and activist had also widely panned the decision.

Democratic politicians had almost across the board condemned the repeal in messages that range from outright antagonism toward the Trump administration, to words of encouragement for Congress to use the six-month stay to pass appropriate legislation protecting young immigrants.

Republicans had, in turn, come out with supportive statements for the Trump administration, even those like Senator Paul Ryan, who just days before urged Trump to keep DACA. "These are kids who know no other country, who were brought here by their parents and don't know another home," Ryan said in a radio interview with WCLO Janesville.

The senator issued the following statement upon Sessions' announcement of the repeal: "However well-intentioned, President Obama's DACA program was a clear abuse of executive authority, an attempt to create law out of thin air. Just as the courts have already struck down similar Obama policy, this was never a viable long-term solution to this challenge. Congress writes laws, not the president, and ending this program fulfills a promise that President Trump made to restore the proper role of the executive and legislative branches."

More Republican politicians chimed in calling DACA an overreach of the Obama administration's power, including Senator Pat Toomey and Congressman Raul Labrador.

The decision also provoked some dissent within the Republican Party, with a statement from Senator John McCain condemning the action and a series of tweets from Senator Jeff Flake, who expressed support for a quick solution to the problem and a somewhat cryptic statement that "executive actions have a short shelf life".

Days prior to Tuesday's announcement, a group of top-tech industry influencers co-signed a letter to President Trump imploring him to keep DACA intact.

DACA | immigrants | US

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team