NYCLU Statement on Trump Ending DACA

President Trump announced today he is ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program. DACA was enacted in 2012 under President Obama to help undocumented immigrants, known as “dreamers,” who came to the U.S. at a young age. DACA provides eligible undocumented immigrants with temporary protection from deportation and gives them the ability to work legally in the U.S. The government will no longer accept new applicants to the program, which will expire in March of 2018.

 

The following statement is attributable to New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman:

 

“President Trump has cruelly and recklessly reneged on the government’s promise to nearly a million dreamers, including tens of thousands of New Yorkers: They could step out of the shadows to participate fully in the life of our communities. In New York, dreamers are our neighbors, coworkers, friends and family – and they are us. They are young people who came here as children, who grew up here, who contribute every day to the social and economic well-being of our communities. 

 

We cannot allow the President and his congressional allies to destroy families and toss them into the clutches of the mass deportation machine. Washington must pass a clean, standalone and bipartisan Dream Act in Washington. In New York we must fortify protections for our immigrant community. That means our state and local officials must put New York’s courts, schools, hospitals and all government agencies off limits to ICE, expand the network of sanctuary cities and provide legal and mental health services to dreamers and their families.”