On Tuesday Sept. 5, the Trump Administration announced that it will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, ending the legal protections given to about 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children.
The immigrants, also called “DREAMers,” will become eligible for deportation in as early as six months. As reported by The New York Times, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the program had “denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing those same illegal aliens to take those jobs.”
According to National Public Radio (NPR), President Trump made a statement, saying “I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are a nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.”
In wake of the decision to repeal DACA, people organized to protest across the nation. In the Bay Area, protesters gathered in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland.
Former President Barack Obama added to the dialogue and issued a statement on Facebook, critiquing the decision to end DACA.
“Let’s be clear: the action taken today isn’t required legally. It’s a political decision, and a moral question,” Obama wrote. “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.”
After the announcement of the DACA repeal, Mills College President Beth Hillman sent an email to the Mills community to offer support to students.
“I write to affirm Mills’ commitment to maintaining an inclusive environment on campus and to share information about the negative impact of this change in federal policy on both undocumented students and students whose families include undocumented persons,” Hillman wrote. “Mills’ policies with respect to immigration status are unchanged. Unless otherwise required by law, we will not enter into agreements with law enforcement agencies for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws“.
