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The Obama administration announced Thursday that it will renew the non-deportation for young adult illegal immigrants, meaning the more than 560,000 so-called “Dreamers” in the program can continue living and working in the U.S. with no fear of deportation.
“Despite the acrimony and partisanship that now exists in Washington, almost all of us agree that a child who crossed our border illegally with a parent, or in search of a parent or a better life, was not making an adult choice to break our laws, and should be treated differently than adult law-breakers,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in announcing the program’s renewal for another two years.
Lauded by immigrant rights groups as a humanitarian gesture, the program, which the government termed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, has been wildly popular with Hispanic voters, and polls show it receives generally good marks with the public at large.
Critics, however, call it President Obama’s “mini-amnesty” program and say it is contributing to a new surge in illegal immigration — including driving up the number of young children crossing the border alone. Homeland Security officials have termed that a crisis.
Those on both sides view DACA as a trial run for a broader legalization program — whether done by executive action or by law, if Congress can agree on something.
To qualify under DACA, immigrants had to have been in the U.S. before age 16, had to have been 30 or younger as of June 15, 2012, and had to prove some degree of educational attainment. Applicants were also put through a background check in an effort to weed out those with serious criminal charges on their records.
More than 96 percent of those who have gone through the DACA process have been approved, which some analysts say shows how little screening is done. The program’s backers, though, say that shows just how prepared and deserving this population is.
Under the program, when Dreamers encounter authorities they can show papers proving they are not going to be deported.
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