Trump ends DACA, plunging millions of Americans into limbo
- On This Day In The Trump Administration
- Sep 5, 2024
- 2 min read
September 5: On This Day In 2017
In 2012, Obama instituted the DACA policy to help protect the children of illegal immigrants. The Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals provided a temporary shield against deportation for those kids who had arrived here with their parents at a young age. Those children, many of whom knew only America as their home, are colloquially referred to as Dreamers.
Years after its introduction, supporting DACA should have been a no-brainer. Morally, many argue it's the right thing to do. Politically, almost three-quarters of Americans support Dreamers becoming citizens. And economically, some forecasts show tremendous benefits from the related DREAM Act*:
According to the non partisan Congressional Budget Office, the DREAM Act in its current form will cut the deficit by $1.4 billion and increase government revenues by $2.3 billion over the next 10 years. According to a recent UCLA study, students that would be impacted by the DREAM Act could add between $1.4 to $3.6 trillion in taxable income to our economy over the course of careers..."
But, as was customary, Trump chose to undo a good thing which his predecessors had created. OTDI 2017 he announced an end to the program, leaving nearly a million young people facing deportation and their families fearful. So much for "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
Trump's heartless proclamation was too much for other traditional GOP leaders to bear. So several, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, opposed his move.
Eventually, the Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, overturned Trump's cancellation. Note: By that point in his term, Trump had appointed only two SCOTUS justices, both of whom took his side in this DACA case. Trump later installed his third justice; it seems likely that the new/current Trump-flavored court would have ended DACA.
As Obama noted, "elections have consequences." The election winner gets to pick judges, and judges can make or break a policy.
Restoring the sanity: On the day Biden and Harris were inaugurated, the new president not only signed an order protecting DACA, he added several new provisions to build upon Obama's decree.
Dive Deeper
* The DREAM Act can be considered a stronger cousin of DACA. It would provide a "pathway to citizenship" for those kids of undocumented immigrants. However, it wouldn't have passed Congress, so Obama implemented DACA via executive order instead.
Trump’s original order
Biden’s order strengthening DACA
Support for Dreamers from U.S. citizens
The calculations behind the benefits of Dreamers
On This Day In The Trump Administration: Trump ends DACA