Urgency Remains for Permanent DACA Solution; Congress Weighs Temporary Solution

Deadline or Not, Urgency Remains for Permanent DACA Solution

National Immigration Forum - March 5th marked the deadline President Trump set when he terminated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last September. While the DACA program remains in place in a limited fashion following two federal court rulings that found fault in the manner by which the administration ended the program, DACA recipients still face uncertainty and a more permanent legislative solution remains urgent.

On Feb. 26, the U.S. Supreme Court, for the time being, declined to hear the Trump administration’s challenge to a lower court’s ruling that keeps DACA renewals temporarily in place and blocks the government’s full halting of the program. The decision keeps the initial injunction the administration challenged in place as the case plays out in the lower courts. But the program could end at any time, either judicially or administratively, leaving hundreds of thousands of Dreamers with DACA at risk. New DACA applications continue not to be accepted.

Among a host of responses this week to DACA recipients’ continued uncertainty, Christians throughout the country are participating in a week of prayer for Dreamers, their families, members of Congress and the president. Along with Voices of Christian Dreamers, the Evangelical Immigration Table released a statement and has prepared a prayer guide to help encourage people to pray for a permanent solution that allows Dreamers to continue living and working in the U.S.

Congress Weighs Temporary Solution as Omnibus Deadline Approaches

As the fate of Dreamers remains in limbo, Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota) introduced a bipartisan bill last week that would provide a “three-for-three” approach to protect Dreamers and bolster border security. The bill would provide a three-year extension of DACA protections and $7.6 billion to finance three years of President Trump’s border security policies.

After the Senate rejected four proposed immigration bills, including two bipartisan proposals, Feb. 15, several Republican senators have suggested that the most likely path forward is the inclusion of a temporary DACA extension in the omnibus spending bill that must pass Congress by March 23.

A Feb. 28 CNN poll showed that 83 percent of Americans believe DACA recipients should be allowed to remain in the U.S., including at least two-thirds of Republicans and 64 percent of voters who approve of President Trump’s job performance.