Although reports from the media have indicated that President Donald Trump intends to close the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as early as Tuesday, the White House says that no final decision has been made. The program has protected from deportation almost 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as minors.
The fate of the program, created via executive action by President Barack Obama in 2012, has been on the current President’s mind for some time, with right-wing conservatives pressuring Trump to close it down, calling it unconstitutional, and threatening legal battles. Both Reuters, and Fox News reported on Thursday that Trump was preparing to announce the phasing out of the current form of the program.
One senior official in the Trump administration says there is a tug-of-war over the deferred action program between differing factions who support it and are against it, but that even many of those who believe it to be unconstitutional are hoping that a legislative fix will be imposed by Congress, according to Reuters. ‘Dreamers’ can live and work in the US legally without the threat of deportation under the DACA program. The reports suggest that those temporary work permits would be allowed to expire under Trump.
But, Trump press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told a White House press briefing that no final decision has yet been reached on the deferred action program.