On Tuesday, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, insisted that federal authorities should not use private information to deport Dreamers. This was a clear warning to President-Elect, Donald Trump, who promised to undo the deferred action program implemented by President Barack Obama, in 2012. The program gave benefits to over 740,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the US as minors, including relief from the threat of deportation.
POLITICO has obtained a letter from Johnson, in which the outgoing head of the Department of Homeland Security says that those young immigrants who applied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals scheme are entitled to many key protections – in particular, not having their personal information used against them for deportation.
In the letter, Johnson says that those protections were promised to the immigrants when they applied and must continue to be adhered to. Congressional Democrats and immigrant advocates are concerned about the intentions of Trump to the deferred action program. They have promised mass deportations and the overturning of the unilateral actions taken with regards to immigration by President Barack Obama during the 2016 Presidential election campaign.
Since his election, Trump has moderated his tone somewhat. He seemed to soften toward Dreamers, in particular, last month, telling TIME magazine that he intended to work out a solution that would please everyone. He noted that many Dreamers had great jobs and were good students living in limbo due to their uncertain legal status.