AILA: Trump’s Wind-Down of DACA Once Again Throws Dreamers’ Lives into Turmoil

CONTACTS:
George Tzamaras 202-507-7649 gtzamaras@aila.org	Belle Woods 202-507-7675 bwoods@aila.org

Washington, DC – The White House announced today that it will begin to wind down legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients while it conducts a review of the program.

The Trump administration announced that it will reject all initial DACA applications and will limit the protection for those renewing their DACA applications to one year, rather than two years.

Jennifer Minear, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) stated, “The Trump administration is consciously choosing to needlessly throw Dreamers’ lives into turmoil with this decision. The Supreme Court did not require DHS to end DACA, yet DHS is insisting on limiting protections for thousands of Dreamers and barring thousands more from obtaining protection from removal at all. Make no mistake: this is the administration’s next step towards deporting Dreamers from the only country they have ever called home.”

AILA’s Executive Director Benjamin Johnson added, “For the sake of not only Dreamers but our nation, this legal limbo must end. The vast majority of Americans support protecting Dreamers. Now is not the time to upend their lives again. It is time for decisive, compassionate action by Congress to pass the American Dream and Promise Act and ensure their lives are permanently woven into the fabric of this nation. AILA and its more than 15,000 members are ready to roll up our sleeves and work together on effective, bipartisan legislation that will quickly address this issue. Now, and always, AILA stands with Dreamers.”

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.

Cite as AILA Doc. No. 20072890.