What is DACA? Who are The Dreamers?

There's been a lot about this in the news but I don't think a lot of us understand what it's all about. I've thought it was designed by DemocRATs to gain votes.

Wrong!

It is NOT a pathway to citizenship.

This came to my attention when I was at my eye doctor the other day. One of his technicians turned out to be a so-called Dreamer. He was born in Baja California, Mexico and his parents brought him here illegally before he was 15. He got a good education and is obviously quite technically skilled. Speaks excellent English. He also told us he has two siblings who were born here. I asked him if he'd applied for a Green Card and he told me that he wasn't eligible for one.

That surprised me and got me looking into the two programs.

First of all, there are no Dreamers.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act was passed in the Senate but was never taken up in the House. So, it was never enacted into law. No law = no Dreamers.

That left Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It isn't even an Executive Order signed by the president! DACA was formally initiated by a policy memorandum sent from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to the heads of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The memo formally directed them to exercise their enforcement discretion on behalf of individuals who met the requirements.

To apply for DACA, illegal immigrants must pay a $495 application fee, submit several forms, and produce documents showing they meet the requirements. They do not need legal representation.

So, what are the requirements?

To be eligible, illegal immigrants must have entered the United States before their 16th birthday and prior to June 2007, be currently in school, a high school graduate or be honorably discharged from the military, be under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012, and not have been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor or three other misdemeanors, or otherwise pose a threat to national security.

The program does not provide lawful status or a path to citizenship, nor does it provide eligibility for federal welfare or student aid.

So, what the hell DOES it do?

It allows them to work and pay taxes until the program expires and they're forced to return to their home country. And, it doesn't stop their illegal parents from being deported. And what about their siblings born here in the USA. According to the law, they are American citizens with all the rights thereof. So, if their parents are deported, they either stay here alone or go with their parents to be aliens in the country they are being sent to.

So, what now?

On September 5, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the program is being repealed. Sessions said that the DACA-eligible individuals were lawbreakers who adversely impacted the wages and employment of native-born Americans. Sessions also attributed DACA as a leading cause behind the surge in unaccompanied minors coming to the United States from Central America. Trump said that "virtually all" "top legal experts" believed that DACA was unconstitutional. Fact-checkers have said that only a few economists believe that DACA adversely affects native-born workers, that there is scant evidence that DACA caused the surge in unaccompanied minors, and that it is false that all "top legal experts" believe DACA to be unconstitutional.

Sessions added that implementation would be suspended for six months; DACA status and Employment Authorization Documents ("EAD") that expire during the next six months would continue to be renewed. DACA recipients with a work permit set to expire on or before March 5, 2018 would have the opportunity to apply for a two-year renewal if their application was received by USCIS by October 5, 2017. In a follow-up statement, Trump said "It is now time for Congress to act!" The approximately 800,000 immigrants who qualified enrolled in DACA will become eligible for deportation by the end of those six months. A White House memo said that DACA recipients should "use the time remaining on their work authorizations to prepare for and arrange their departure from the United States."

In other words, Illegal Aliens brought their children here and President Obama dreamed up a program to allow the kids to go to school, receive benefits, work, and pay taxes with no other benefits whatsoever. Not a single chance for a Green Card (Permanent Residency) or citizenship. He made promises and effectively screwed them.

And, when they're forced to leave, a whole lot of them will be forced to go to S**thole countries like Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador where there are no jobs and murder is the number one crime.

So, what should be done?

Congress has to get off its lazy butt and either resurrect the DREAM act or some up with something better to allow those people affected by DACA to be able to find a path to legal residency or naturalization if they meet some very strict guidelines. Nobody with any criminal record whatsoever allowed to stay and immediately removed/deported.

Your comments?