DACA

Undocubus

Trump Ends DACA: Will Congress Save Dreamers?

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Undocubus
Undocumented workers and students protested at the DNC in 2012. (That’s me in the turquoise dress before the cops told me to move.)

Our country’s most ill-prepared president just lobbed one of our country’s stickiest problems into the court of the country’s least effective Congress, ever. What could go wrong? The dreams of nearly one million young people.

On Sept. 5, 2017, Attorney General and long-time anti-immigration advocate Jeff Sessions announced the Trump administration’s decision to rescind President Obama’s executive order that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Implemented five years ago, DACA was supposed to be a stop-gap measure to shield children and young adults, who were brought to the US illegally as minors by their parents. The plan was that Congress would move on immigration reform while DACA protected these young people from immediate deportation.

Roughly 800,000 young adults under DACA could face deportation if Congress fails to act within the next six months. The crux of the problem is that DACA was created because Congress shirked its duty on meaningful immigration reform. For 16 years, Congress has failed to pass any immigration reform– let alone comprehensive reform, which is sorely needed. Even the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) — which outlined a path to citizenship for Dreamers– has died a bipartisan death in Congress multiple times, since it was originally proposed in 2001.

Will Congress have the guts to save the Dreamers now?

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Suffer the Children: Day of Reckoning for DACA

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While the actual details have not yet been announced, the news media has been consistently reporting the White House position leaked to POLITICO over the Labor Day weekend that President Donald Trump has decided to punt the DACA issue to the Tea-Publican Congress. Trump has decided to end DACA, with 6-month delay:

President Donald Trump has decided to end the Obama-era program that grants work permits to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children, according to two sources familiar with his thinking. Senior White House aides huddled Sunday afternoon to discuss the rollout of a decision likely to ignite a political firestorm — and fulfill one of the president’s core campaign promises.

Trump has wrestled for months with whether to do away with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. But conversations with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who argued that Congress — rather than the executive branch — is responsible for writing immigration law, helped persuade the president to terminate the program and kick the issue to Congress, the two sources said.

In a nod to reservations held by many lawmakers, the White House plans to delay the enforcement of the president’s decision for six months, giving Congress a window to act, according to one White House official.

Riiight. A Democratic majority Congress could not pass the DREAM Act in 2010 because of a GOP Senate filibuster, joined by five “moderate” Democratic senators (Sens. Baucaus, Hagan, Nelson, Pryor and Tester) on a vote of 55-41 (four senators not voting). Of the three GOP senators who voted for the DREAM Act, Sens. Bennet, Lugar and Murkowski, only Murkowski is still in the Senate. The DREAM Act was passed by the Democratic controlled House.

Since that time, the GOP has become even more anti-immigrant, and in 2016 was taken over by the white nationalist Trump supporters of the alt-right, exemplified by former chief stategist to the Trump campaign, Stephen Bannon.

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Speak Up Pima County

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Pima County Bd. of Supervisors meets tomorrow September 5th,  at 9 a.m., 130 W. Congress St. on the first floor. Agenda online: https://pima.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=552209&GUID=E15D76B2-8B74-4089-9D76-6A670372E6C9 Go to our Calendar listing for more info on Supervisor Ally Miller’s recent remarks, and the agenda items regarding them. Any member of the public can speak at Call to the Public, … Read more

3 Day Know Your Immigration Rights & Stand Together Conference at YWCA of Southern Az

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YWCA Southern Arizona Announces, “Muro Informativo: La Inmigracion y Sus Derechos,”  3-day Know Your Immigration Rights
& Stand Together Conference 

  • Thursday May 18, 2017 from 6:00pm-8:30 pm Day One: “Sanctuary Everywhere” Panel Discussion and Workshop for Migrant Allies in English
  • Friday May 19, 2017 from 2:00pm-6:00pm    Day Two: “Muro Informativo” in Spanish
  • Saturday May 20, 2017 from 9:00pm-7:00pm Day Three: “Muro Informativo” in Spanish

YWCA Francis McClelland Community Center,
525 N. Bonita Avenue

For Conference Registration: Please email ajaramillo@ywcatucson.org or call 520-884-7810 ex 108, and indicate wether you are registering for the English, Spanish Sessions for the conference, or both, and whether you will need childcare (available on day 3.) There is no cost to attend the conference, but donations are welcome to cover  conference expenses. 

“The YWCA Promotoras Rompiendo Cadenas, a collaborative of the Latina Leadership Initiative, with the Stand Together Arizona Training and Advocacy Center are hosting a three-day immigration conference. The goal of the conference is to provide information on current immigration policies, executive orders, and create a coalition on behalf of immigrants in our community to bring hope and justice to immigrant families in Tucson affected by anti-immigrant policies.

The first day of the conference will include a Panel Discussion and Workshop on immigration and providing tools for allies to better advocate for immigrant families.
The second day of the conference will be a half day of workshops in Spanish relating to current state of immigration law, knowing one’s rights in the event of an immigration stop or detention. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and the review process of immigration applications regarding criminal background.
The third day of the conference will include a full day of workshops in Spanish including workers’ rights, immigration remedies for victims of crime (the U-Visa and VAWA petitions) resources from the Mexican Consulate’s Office of Protection, information for parents that are Mexican nationals and have U.S. Citizen children, and resources available in the Nogales, Sonora for repatriated families.
The third day of the conference will also have child care for children over the age of four years funded through donation.
The conference will conclude with a “Tardeadea” that will include a resource fair to share information about local immigration non-profits and advocacy groups. Thetardeada will conclude mariachi, dancing, and a piñata for the children in the child care program.

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