DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program introduced by Pres. Obama in 2012) is a program that protects undocumented immigrant children who arrived in the U.S. under the age of 16 prior to June 15, 2007 from deportation. While it does not offer a path to citizenship within the program, it sets the foundation for children of other countries to become naturalized citizen. It is renewable every two years and includes conditions based on citizenship and academic performance. DACA is a way to ensure children brought to the U.S. against their will or knowing are given a chance at the same unalienable rights U.S.-Born citizens enjoy.
The subject is infuriating and the rhetoric from the President only makes it worse. Since before the election there has been a good amount of focus placed on immigration. The most popular promise from the President was to build a wall separating the U.S. from Mexico. During the initial talks with the Democratic party over the elimination of DACA and six-month phasing out, one of the first bargaining chips became the wall. According to the Dallas News, President Trump stood adamant to his original agenda toward tougher immigration policy with, “DACA now and the wall very soon, but the wall will happen (Gillman, 2017).”
Using innocent children for a political agenda–regardless of where they are from or their citizenship status–is disgusting. They are children. They want to play and have fun. Love and laugh. Form friendships and live free. They also want to learn. They idea of deporting 800,000 children and young adults, many who have already spent most of their lives in the U.S. school system, is sadistic and criminal. I feel it is also yet one more power-play for political parties to get what they want. It is a business deal with ante and bluff and all of the other unsavory elements of a boom town poker game. Except this time the pot is a wall separating two countries who are connected on a much deeper level than a shared continent; the chips are the children of that relationship.
Every child has a right to live, love, and learn. President Obama understood that. Then again, he spent much quality time with the First Family interacting with children in schools.
Gillman, Todd. (Sep. 13, 2017). The Dallas News. “Trump rules out citizenship for DREAMers, Digs in on border wall…” https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2017/09/13/trump-assures-border-wall-foes-link-daca-fix.
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