Pres Trump Cuts DACA Time In Half In Major Rewrite Of Obama Program

By admin On Jul 28, 2020

The Trump administration announced a major rewrite of DACA on Tuesday, saying it will keep the program going — for now — but all new applications will be rejected, and those renewing their status will be limited to just one year.

At the same time, the administration will conduct a full legal review, with an eye toward determining whether to attempt another total phaseout of the program after the Supreme Court last month erased President Trump’s initial attempt.

A senior official said the review “will have to take time,” so the program isn’t going anywhere yet. But it will be curtailed.

In addition to blocking new applicants and limiting renewals to one year — half the time currently allowed — the administration will cast a stricter eye on requests for Advance Parole, which is a backdoor pathway to citizenship thousands of DACA recipients have taken advantage of.

“These actions will limit the scope of the program while DHS and the administration review its legality, the justifications for a possible wind-down, and other considerations relevant to deciding whether to keep or wind down the DACA policy,” the official told reporters.

Immigration rights activists were enraged at the moves, saying Mr. Trump is on another collision course with the courts. A federal judge earlier this month ordered a full re-start of the DACA program as it was in September 2017, before Mr. Trump’s first phaseout attempt — including accepting new applicants.

The activists said they expect Mr. Trump to try another phaseout later.

“Don’t be fooled. As soon as they can get away with it, they will put more than one million young immigrants who grew up in America — pledging allegiance to the flag every day in school, fighting to get jobs and study in college, and building families — on a path to deportation from the only country most have even known,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice.

He said Congress must step in and pass legislation guaranteeing a full pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrant “Dreamers,” which is what DACA recipients call themselves.

Democrats on Capitol Hill attempted to do just that on Tuesday afternoon, taking to the floor of the Senate to demand speedy passage of a bill that already cleared the House.