Implications Of The DACA Decision

Published September 5, 2017 at 10:00 AM CDT

Supporters of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA chant slogans and holds signs while joining a Labor Day rally in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, Sept. 4. (Richard Vogel/AP)

Congress and the way ahead for America’s young “Dreamers” as the Trump administration lays out its stand on DACA.

The fate of 800,000 so-called “Dreamers” in the balance today as the Trump administration rolls out its plan for the Obama-era DACA program that allowed children brought young and undocumented to this country a grace period in which they could work and study and live. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to end the Obama program. Today, the country sees what that may mean. Up next On Point: DACA, the dreamers, and the Trump way ahead. — Tom Ashbrook.

Guests

Glenn Thrush, New York Times White House Correspondent. ( @GlennThrush)

Seung Min Kim, Covers Congress for Politico. ( @seungminkim)

Kelsey Snell, Covers Congress with a focus on budget and fiscal issues for the Washington Post. ( @kelsey_snell)

Rose Cuison Villazor, Law professor at the University of California at Davis and co-editor of “The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965: Legislating a New America.”

From Tom’s Reading List

The New York Times: On DACA, President Trump Has No Easy Path — “Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, John F. Kelly, who had wrestled with crafting a compromise in his previous job as the president’s homeland security secretary, began consulting with Republican lawmakers and staff members for a quick fix, according to three officials familiar with the situation. He finally arrived at an inelegant solution to an intractable problem: Delaying a decision on the final fate of about 800,000 “Dreamers” covered by President Barack Obama’s executive action for six months, and putting it on Congress to come up with a legislative solution to the problem.”

Politico: Trump’s Punt To Congress On DACA Threatens New GOP Rift — “A growing number of Republicans have urged Trump not to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — with some lashing out against the president in harsh terms — while other GOP lawmakers have indicated he is not ending the five-year-old initiative quickly enough.”

The New York Times: What Do Dreamers Do Now? — “Allowing the government to use the information obtained through DACA to find these individuals and remove them would not only be heartless, but would set a dangerous precedent. Even if Congress, sometime in the future, were to enact a legislative equivalent of DACA, what are the chances that undocumented immigrants would once again put their faith in a government database?”