An estimated 7,000 young Indian-Americans could be affected by President Donald Trump’s reported decision to scrap an Obama-era programme that granted work permits to nearly 8,00,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as children.
Trump, set to make an announcement on Tuesday, has decided to phase out his predecessor Barak Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme with a six-month pause in enforcement to give the US Congress an opportunity to come up with an alternative, Politico reported.
But there was no official word yet on Trump’s reported decision, except that he would come up with an announcement on Tuesday. “A decision is not finalized. We will make an announcement on Tuesday,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
The DACA programme unveiled by former President Barack Obama in June 2012 by way of executive action sought to protect the 800,000-odd “dreamers” from deportation and grant them work permits, allowing them to come out of the shadows and work legally.
While the overwhelming majority of “dreamers” — as much as 78 per cent — are from one country, namely Mexico, followed by some other Central American countries, India has been ranked 11th among countries of origin for DACA students in the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) statistics as of March 31, 2017.
Under the programme, the Obama administration allowed young migrants, who came into the US illegally along with their parents, an opportunity to pursue their American dream, subject to meeting certain requirements.
To qualify, these migrants must have entered the US before turning 16, have no serious criminal background and have lived continuously in the US since June 15, 2007. The programme cleared the way for “dreamers” to obtain driver’s licenses, work permits and, in some states, concessional in-state tuition. Although Republicans were furious with Obama when he unilaterally announced what was perceived to be an amnesty-type programme for this category of illegal immigrants, party lawmakers are now divided on scrapping it.
“I actually do not think he (Trump) should do that. I believe that this is something that Congress has to fix,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a radio interview on Sunday.
“At the end of the day, these kids do not know any other home. I think there is a humane way to fix this. I think President Trump agrees with fixing this, and it is got to be up to the legislature. I think we need some time,” Ryan said.
Some influential Republican Senators have also come out against scrapping DACA. Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah cautioned Trump on such a move. Florida Senator Marco Rubio pitched for the Congress passing a suitable law to protect the “dreamers”.
But some other Republican lawmakers want Trump to press ahead with the scrapping. “Ending DACA now gives chance 2 restore Rule of law. Delaying so R leadership can push Amnesty is Republican suicide,” Congressman Steve King from Iowa tweeted.
Democrats are stoutly opposed to any action by Trump that leads to deportation of the young immigrants. As House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi put it, “Deporting patriotic, courageous young men and women who are American in every way would be disastrous for our communities, our economy and our nation.”