Our nation is based on freedom and opportunities for everyone who lives here and who comes here. But is this still the case today? Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was launched by President Barack Obama in 2012. It helps immigrants who came to the United States as children from deportation, but it does not necessarily grant them U.S. citizenship (Harper and O’Boyle). It allows them to go to school, get their license, apply for student loans and more without having to worry about getting deported. Barack Obama also added, ‘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’ (Romo).
Before Donald Trump became president, he was very clear on what he wanted to do to change our country. Almost a year after he gained presidency, he announced that he was going to end DACA. He wanted to address immigration issues so he could focus on his citizens with priority (Romo). The announcement caused mass controversy between democrats and republicans. Republicans tend to agree with Trump on most things and they support this decision of his. Democrats think the opposite and they believe that the immigrants under DACA have just as many rights as citizens who were born here. Republicans won’t pass a bill to protect DACA unless funding goes to increase our border security and a wall (Struyk).
After all of the debate, President Donald Trump decided that he will keep the laws protecting DACA citizens but it comes with a price. He agrees with the Republicans and is wanting Democrats to fund the border wall and make changes to the immigration system. Trump says we all want them to stay but our country needs greater security (Graef and Kopan).
President Donald Trump’s conclusion for DACA immigrants should make both Democrats and Republicans happy, at least in the long run. Democrats are not happy about funding all of that money for the wall but they are the ones that want citizens under DACA to stay here safely. Republicans will get the wall and increased security for our country like they have always wanted.
Works Cited
- Graef, Aileen, and Tal Kopan. “Trump Wants DACA with the Border Wall.” CNN, Cable News Network, 7 Jan. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/01/06/politics/trump-daca-wall-immigration/index.html.
- Harper, Brian, and Brendan O’Boyle. “Explainer: What Is DACA?” AS/COA, 13 Sept. 2018, www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-what-daca.
- Romo, Vanessa, et al. “Trump Ends DACA, Calls On Congress To Act.” NPR, NPR, 5 Sept. 2017, www.npr.org/2017/09/05/546423550/trump-signals-end-to-daca-calls-on-congress-to-act.
- Struyk, Ryan. “The Politics behind the DACA Debate, in Two Charts.” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 Jan. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/01/09/politics/daca-politics-congressional-district-charts/index.html.
