In the midst of an onslaught of natural disasters, the country has a newfound sense of unity. In Texas, we saw the American spirit rekindled in the form of countless acts of heroism. While most of us are taking a moment to appreciate what we have and feeling proud to be American, the most entrenched in the left have completely ignored everything positive to continue their relentless attack on anything that comes from Trump. This week, the topic at the top of the list is DACA. Just what is DACA, and how much does it matter? Let’s break down the legal and political ramifications around DACA and its removal.
The Law
The first thing you need to understand about DACA is that it is not a law. It actually isn’t even an executive order. It is a memo that was written by Janet Napolitano while she was the head of Homeland Security. Obama endorsed the memo and it became common practice. The contents of the memo suggest that certain immigrants who might face deportation could have any prosecution deferred for a two-year period. At the end of that period, if conditions are met, prosecution could then be deferred again. That is everything covered by DACA. It doesn’t give undocumented residents legal residential standing. It doesn’t provide them with work visas, Social Security Numbers or the means to pay taxes. It just defers taking legal action against them.
It’s important to understand who qualifies for DACA protection. First, it is applied on a case-by-case basis, so no one automatically qualifies. You can be automatically disqualified, though, and these are the conditions:
- Residents must be under the age of 30.
- Residents must have been under the age of 16 when they immigrated.
- Residents must be in school, finished high school or equivalent, or have been honorably discharged from the military or Coast Guard.
- Residents can never have been convicted of a felony, major misdemeanor or multiple misdemeanors.
- Residents must have lived in the U.S. for the past 5 years and still be living in the U.S.
In short, the memo says that people who immigrated unlawfully while they were minors, are educated and have never caused legal problems shouldn’t be at the top of the deportation list. In all, it’s one of the least problematic issues to come from Obama’s administration, but it still has negative consequences.
Understanding Trump’s Action
Trump was public about his conflicted feelings in regards to DACA. The people primarily affected by it are not a problem in this country. They had no choice in their immigration and by and large they have done their best to play fairly and contribute to our country. It’s estimated that 91 percent of DACA-protected immigrants are employed and paying taxes.
The real problem with DACA is that it leaves these immigrants in perpetual limbo. Seeing that it isn’t a law, it can be overturned very easily (as Trump proved), and it offers no way for people who are American in spirit to become American on paper. The other problem is that the approach itself is illegal. Obama pushed DACA as a unilateral overreach of power, and that in itself is a far bigger danger than the contents of the memo.
Ultimately Trump had to rescind this piece of policy for two reasons. First, it scales back presidential powers that Obama unlawfully expanded. Trump is staying true to his promise to drain the swamp, even where that applies to limiting his and future presidents’ power.
The second reason he made this move was to give Congress a swift kick in the rear. So far, they have done their best to show their expertise at procrastination and stagnation. Trump threw them a live grenade with DACA. Everyone, regardless of party, wants to see some kind of immigration reform. Trump gave them six months to make something happen. If they simply let DACA fall without replacing it, many representatives of both parties will be out of a job by the end of next year.
Ending DACA isn’t Trump’s end-game plan. It’s step one. He promised us sweeping immigration reform, and this is the best way to get that ball rolling. With this maneuver he is forcing the left to finally play ball if they want to stay in office.
While they’ll negotiate for formal legislation that protects the kinds of immigrants we want to keep, Trump will have the negotiating power to take stronger measures against unlawful immigrants that represent a clear threat to America. He’s ready to torch the entire establishment if he must, but Congress will no longer be allowed to remain passive while Trump is in office.
~ American Liberty Report
