On June 25, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland security announced that children who entered the United States under 16 years old and who met certain criteria would receive protection from deportation and receive a work visa. The work visa and the protection only lasts two years, and you could apply to get them renewed.

This program is called DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It has helped nearly 790,000 undocumented immigrants in the United States by giving them protection and a chance for a higher education and work. This was implemented for the young people who dreamt for a better life and increased opportunities in the U.S, giving the people under DACA the nickname “dreamers”. These immigrants want a better life, and isn’t this exactly what America was founded for? To give people like the DACA dreamers new opportunities?

On September 5th, President Donald Trump ordered an end to the DACA program. Basically, the immigrants that are being protected by the program will not be protected anymore after October 2019 unless they apply for renewal by October 5th, 2018. If DACA recipients do not renew their application, they are at risk for deportation. These children that came to live a better life should not be immediately kicked out of the country.

Trump has been using Twitter, as always, to update the public on these decisions. He assured the dreamers, on September 7, 2017, that there would be no actions taken and that they do not need to worry about their status. First off, this does not match up with the things that the media is saying, and secondly, this contradicts what Trump said earlier about repealing the DACA program, making it pretty confusing for the people who are at risk for deportation. While he has said several times that it has been a hard decision for him to make and that he loves the dreamers, anyone paying attention knows to be wary of believing what he is saying, especially on Twitter.

I think that what Trump may be trying to do is to get people to apply for a green card and permanent citizenship, but I also believe there could be another purpose for threatening to remove DACA. The kids that are in the U.S under the protection of DACA are people who are lucky to be here. The United States was founded off of immigrants; this country was never ours, but the Europeans still came, and they made a home and a way for themselves. That is what the Dreamers are doing essentially; they are escaping for a better life and more opportunities.

Once DACA fades out, there are about 800,000 Dreamers that are at risk for being deported. According to an article on “Bustle”, most of these children were brought to live in the U.S. when they were about 6 and a half, showing that these kids know no other life than life in America. So how do we expect the deportation of these kids to go? They don’t know anything besides the opportunities of the U.S; is Trump just going to take that away from them?

I think that there is a much better solution than to put about 800,000 people at risk for deportation who just want a better life. It is hard to imagine what it would take to get these people out of the country, but I believe that they should be actively trying to become citizens, get a job, or be getting an education of some sort. Like I said before, this country is built off of people coming to better their quality of life, so why is it so hard for us to help the dreamers?

Donald Trump is planning to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, he wants the people who came to the country under this action to apply for permanent citizenship, or at least start the process.  These people must have been escaping something terrible or wanting to have an overall better life, if they are not causing trouble and are actively trying to become a permanent citizen, shouldn’t we try to protect them and help them as much as we can.