BY KRAIG PIERCE
The United States of America was founded by immigrants. For those immigrants who were fortunate enough to come to America before immigration laws, it was as simple as jumping on a ship and sailing here. Once the United States government and its boundaries were established, immigration laws were enforced. Illegal immigration has been an issue for a number of decades, but with Congress’ inability to pass immigration reform, President Obama implemented the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. This program protects immigrant youth who came to the United States when they were children from being deported. It also provides these children with work permits. Unfortunately for these young immigrants, known as Dreamers (after the proposed DREAM Act, which would grant qualifying young immigrants with permanent residency), it currently sounds as if the Trump administration has their sights on DACA and its current recipients.
The Trump administration is doing a few things well, one of which is focusing on jobs and our country’s economy. This economically-centered mindset has garnered the administration both acclaim and disdain- due to the rising number of jobs, which follow with increasingly stern immigration policies. When Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, announced on Sept. 5th that DACA would be rescinded, Dreamer’s were rightfully startled. The immigrants who had built a life in our great country, could be sent back to a country that many of them had never known. This fear fueled many protests, and lowered the Trump administration approval rating even further. It seems, though, that this fear may be a misunderstanding.
In order to get an accurate reading of this issue, sources that lean both directions must be used as a reference and merged together to find a middle ground. That being said, news sources from both sides of the aisle seem to be unsure of Trump’s decision. Right-leaning Fox News blames the Obama administration for implementing a destructive immigration policy, and support the dismantling of DACA altogether. Left-leaning CNN views this as a travesty, stating the fact that, “Democratic and nonpartisan state attorneys generals filed suits in court to stop Trump’s assault on DACA.” With the left fighting tooth and nail to save DACA and the right attempting to destroy it, it would seem as if the “good guys” and “bad guys” are battling over the lives and futures of the young immigrants of the country. Unfortunately, the issue is not that clear. Left-leaning news sources are highlighting this issue without mentioning the fact that the Trump wants to pass a new “DACA program”. (Admittedly, this program was only brought up after the backlash that accompanied the announcement of DACA’s rescinding.)
That’s better, right? Maybe the Trump administration will implement a DACA program that will ensure the citizenship of young immigrants that are good, hard-working individuals? Well, that’s another misconception from the other side of the aisle. According to Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump would only sign a new DACA plan as part of a comprehensive immigration reform. This means that Congress has until March to come up with a new DACA plan. If this does not happen, then something is going to have to change (and if healthcare is any indication of Congress’ ability to get along and get stuff done, we shouldn’t hold our breath).
This definitely does not mean that Trump will deport every DACA recipient, and every young immigrant in the United States, by any means. Remember, the 2020 elections are coming quickly, and voters from both sides of the aisle would have disdain for a Trump that would banish hundreds of thousands of young people from the United States. Not only would this mass-deportation fiscally devastate the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget of $7.94 billion, it would also hit the U.S economy in a huge way. The Trump administration currently has an approval rating of 37% (the lowest presidential approval rating in Gallup history), with its only shining quality being the economic growth the United States has been experiencing. The economic strain that mass-deportation would put on the U.S economy would be due to the many of the following: Unfilled job vacancies, small business employee retention rates, small business feasibility, rural & agricultural production rates, etc. This economic backlash would force the Trump administration in a corner, due directly to the large population of Trump supporters who are small business owners/workers, blue collar workers (who depend on economic strength for their jobs to exist), and white collar business-people (who depend on cheap labor for increased profit). It is because of this, and the upcoming 2020 election, that the Trump administration will not toss out DACA without a bill that is equal to the previous plan.
Sources:
www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-03-10/mass-deportations-could-hurt-the-economy
www.newamericaneconomy.org/research/open-for-business-how-immigrants-are-driving-small-business-creation-in-the-united-states-2/
www.jstor.org/stable/1809481http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/06/politics/daca-trump-states-lawsuits/index.html
undocu.berkeley.edu/legal-support-overview/what-is-daca/
www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/us/politics/trump-daca-dreamers-immigration.html?mcubz=0
www.politico.com/story/2017/09/13/teflon-trump-democrats-messaging-242607
www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2017/09/inequality-opportunity