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The Day Trump Ended DACA – America’s Voice Liveblog

by Americas's Voice on

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Follow along today as we keep track of breaking news and important developments. Also view our press statement here and explainer blog here.


5:30 PM Immigration attorney David Leopold is holding a Facebook Live to answer questions about DACA:

3:00 PM President Obama, who created DACA, responded to Trump’s decision to end it:

Let’s be clear: the action taken today isn’t required legally. It’s a political decision, and a moral question. Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn’t threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us. They are that pitcher on our kid’s softball team, that first responder who helps out his community after a disaster, that cadet in ROTC who wants nothing more than to wear the uniform of the country that gave him a chance. Kicking them out won’t lower the unemployment rate, or lighten anyone’s taxes, or raise anybody’s wages.

It is precisely because this action is contrary to our spirit, and to common sense, that business leaders, faith leaders, economists, and Americans of all political stripes called on the administration not to do what it did today. And now that the White House has shifted its responsibility for these young people to Congress, it’s up to Members of Congress to protect these young people and our future. I’m heartened by those who’ve suggested that they should. And I join my voice with the majority of Americans who hope they step up and do it with a sense of moral urgency that matches the urgency these young people feel.

Ultimately, this is about basic decency. This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people – and who we want to be.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) called the rescission of DACA Trump’s “most dangerous and damaging act yet”:

Punishing individual immigrants who are deeply embedded in American communities is not the mandate Trump was given when he was elected. Recall that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Democrats and the pro-immigrant movement fought hard against a Democratic president, Barack Obama, to win DACA in the first place. I was arrested twice in demonstrations in front of the Obama White House in the push for DACA.

The law has withstood legal challenges, and it is working exactly as it was designed. I am confident my caucus and Democratic colleagues will fight a Republican president to defend DACA, in the courts, through legislation, community by community and deportation by deportation if necessary.

And Republicans, too, will face serious political consequences over the law’s end. The party typically needs a lot of Democratic votes in the House to make up for the fact that Republicans are so deeply divided on spending, debt – and whether the government remaining open is a good thing. And with the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, this is usually the time of year that Republicans come looking for those votes to avoid another embarrassing government shutdown.

If Republicans need our votes this time, they should be aware that my vote and the votes of my colleagues come with a big condition: If we give them our votes, about 800,000 immigrant youth are coming with us…

This action on DACA – to pull the rug out from under almost 800,000 documented immigrants and cast them back into the shadows – is the ugliest act of appeasement so far for the far-right’s white-supremacist goals. It has not gone unnoticed.

12:59 AM: Texas announced that it will be withdrawing its lawsuit threat today:

12:14 PM: America’s Voice press call has started featuring:

  • Marielena Hincapié, Executive Director, National Immigration Law Center
  • Cristina Jimenez, Executive Director, United We Dream
  • Andy Pincus, Partner, Mayer Brown
  • Lorella Praeli, Director of Immigration Policy and Campaigns, American Civil Liberties Union
  • Frank Sharry, Executive Director, America’s Voice

12:10 PM: In Ohio, Painesville DACA Recipients Drive to Washington as Trump Plans End to ‘Dreamers’ Program

Other Ohio events happening today:

  • Toledo (Today, noon) – Defend DACA event
  • Dayton (Today, 4:30pm) – Rally to Support and Defend DACA! Dayton is for Dreamers!
  • Cincinnati (Today, 4:30pm) – Rally to Defend DACA and Pass the Dream Act
  • Cleveland
  • Today, 4:30pm – Rally: Outraged and Unafraid: La Alianza Supports DACA
  • Thursday, 7pm – Candlelight Vigil for DACA and Dreamers, #OHereToStay
  • Oberlin (Today, 7:30pm) – We Support DACA Vigil

11:48 AM: Here’s the actual DHS memo rescinding DACA, and here’s FAQ from DHS.

Leaders of Microsoft and Facebook have condemned today’s rescission of DACA and called on Congress to pass the Dream Act. (They and hundreds of other business leaders last week declared support for DACA and Dreamers; businesses would lose billions in employee turnover if they had to replace DACA-mented Dreamers.

11:21 AM: Statement from Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi:

President Trump’s decision to end DACA is a deeply shameful act of political cowardice and a despicable assault on innocent young people in communities across America. Deporting DREAMers means destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of patriotic young people, costing the economy billions and betraying the fundamental values of the American Dream.

The President’s cruel and heartless decision to start deporting DREAMers in six months demands an immediate response from the Republican Congress. Speaker Ryan and the Republican House leadership must bring the DREAM Act to the floor for a vote without delay.

11:12 AM: Frank Sharry’s statement:

Today, President Trump has formally ended the DACA program that gave hope and a future to hundreds of thousands of young people who are American in every way except their legal status. In an act of moral and political cowardice, Trump reached a new low of malice by crushing the dreams of 800,000 young people who are as American as you and I. After mainstreaming white nationalism in his response to Charlottesville and undermining our justice system with his pardon of racist Joe Arpaio, Trump has turned his hate on the young men and women who we have come to know as “Dreamers.” Their dreams have now turned into a nightmare under this dark and soulless President. How America treats Dreamers is a moral test that goes beyond party labels and cuts to the questions of who we are as a people and what we aspire to be as a country. Dreamers are Americans. They grew up in this country, they’ve graduated from schools and have gone to work in America. Their dreams are made in America. Now their futures are under threat.

No one should fall for the White House spin that there was a modicum of humanity embedded in their decision today. There is no middle ground or equivocation when it comes to Dreamers. It’s a time for choosing, and we all should stand with Dreamers in today, their time of need, and push Congress to advance a clean, bipartisan, and permanent bill to extend the protections and opportunities they deserve and we all benefit from.

10:21AM: Some analysis from Greg Sargent at Washington Post:

Let’s be clear on what this six month delay actually does and does not do. Because of the logistical realities attendant in winding down these protections, announcing this on a “six month delay” is very likely to be identical in practical terms to announcing it today, for a large majority of those 800,000 people. And for that large majority, it means they are losing their protections in the very near future, upending the lives of hundreds of thousands

who currently are working, have jobs, and had hoped to continue making positive contributions to American life…

ABC News reports that Trump “doesn’t want to own” the decision to end DACA, so it will be announced today by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. All this suggests that this “six month delay” is meant to distance Trump in some way or other from ending it.

10:14 AM: Advocates have been rallying against today’s decision all week. More protests are expected today — and organizers are already mobilizing. Follow #defendDACA for more.

10:02 AM: While we’re waiting, here are two threads from Dreamers about what living before and after DACA has meant.

9:44 AM: Here’s Trump punting. Ken Paxton or no, Trump could have kept DACA in place indefinitely. Let’s be clear, even if Congress doesn’t act (and they absolutely should act), Trump will have been the one who killed DACA.

9:30 AM: Reports say that Donald Trump will end DACA today, with a complete shutdown of the program coming in six months. Here are the rumored (emphasis, rumored) details, with a Jeff Sessions press conference at 11 AM EST:

  • The administration won’t consider new applications for legal status dated after Sept. 5.
  • If you are not already protected by the program, you are out of luck, although applications filed before Tuesday that are pending will continue to be processed.
  • Anyone who has a DACA permit expiring between now and March 5, 2018, can apply for a two-year renewal. That application must be submitted by Oct. 5.

What this means: The youngest Dreamers (those who have not already aged into the program) will be some of the most vulnerable, and among the first who may be in danger of deportation. Those whose DACA ends after March 5, 2018 will be next in danger. Starting March 6, 2018, an estimated 1,000 Dreamers will lose status every single day. If Congress does not act on the Dream Act, Dreamers will have two years at most to get their lives together before possibly facing deportation.