Approximately 690,000 young adults are currently protected under the DACA program, and Trump’s plan to rescind it leaves University students and community members in limbo.
Over 100 listeners flooded into the Wood County Public Library atrium Sept. 14 to hear the specifics of the nuanced and multifaceted U.S. immigration laws from local experts and Eugenio Mollo Jr., the managing attorney of the Immigrant Rights Practice Group at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) in Toledo. From the DACA program to the DREAM act, Mollo gave an extensive presentation on what everyone should be aware of regarding current Immigration policy.
There are four general immigration categories in which individuals can be classified: U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, visa holders and undocumented individuals. DACA beneficiaries fall under the visa holder category.
DACA was created by President Obama in June 2012 and was designed to protect individuals who came to the United States before their 16th birthday, have earned a high school diploma, have passed a criminal background check and have been provided with deferral from removal. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ended DACA last Tuesday.
DACA and work permits will remain valid until their expiration date for current children under the program, but no new applications will be processed or accepted. DACA issuances and work permits that expire between Sept. 5, 2017, and March 8, 2018, must be submitted for renewal by Oct. 5, 2017.
The U.S. current system of immigration operates under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and hasn’t undergone serious reform in over 52 years. Mollo attributes DACA’s dissolution to Trump’s desire for reform immigration policy and his views on immigration that counter Obama’s.
“Under President Obama, he prioritized individuals who posed a national security or public safety risk for deportation,” Mollo said. “In President Obama’s opinion, that sort of designation made us safer as a country. Remember there are about 11 to 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US today; we have unlimited enforcement resources, even though Trump is trying to increase those resources. President Trump has taken a different approach and said that everyone who is in the country without status is considered a deportation priority.”
Trump is adding to President Obama’s deportation policy that resulted in the largest number of deportations of any president in America’s history. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Obama administration deported more than 2.5 million people between 2009 and 2015.
Trump’s recent executive orders entail a variety of requests that include hiring 10,000 new Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers, which would more than double ICE’s current force of 8,000 officers.
Mollo also pointed out a common misconception that immigrants who are removed from the DACA program will simply self-deport, citing Trump’s former special advisor Steven Bannon.
“Steve Bannon claimed in an interview on CBS news that these 800,000 individuals would just self deport,” Mollo said. “Some might, but we have 21 years of data that show that that’s not what happens to most individuals. Cutting off their status really just throws them back into the shadows, leaving them vulnerable to criminal activity and exploitation from employers.”
Though first proposed in 2001, the DREAM act was revised and reintroduced in July of this year and is receiving bipartisan support to supplement the DACA program. The act would provide a direct road to U.S. citizenship for people who are either undocumented, have DACA or Temporary Protected Status and who graduate from U.S. high schools and attend college, enter the workforce or enlist in a military program. The House is currently pushing to get it on the floor and voted on.
To help ensure protection for students under the DACA program and a continuation of Bowling Green city’s devotion to a culture of inclusion, Mayor Richard Edwards presented a letter jointly composed by himself and city council president Michael Aspacher to Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown and Rep. Bob Latta, asking them to protect the status of undocumented immigrants who are currently attending the University under the protections of DACA.
“As a community, we take pride in the work of the city’s human relations commission and its long history of promoting equal opportunity and housing,” Edwards said. “Bowling Green was named in 2014 as one of 5 gold-star cities in the country by the nationally prominent Not In Our Town movement dedicated to deterring acts of hate in any form. We are indeed a welcoming community.”
Wafaa Aburahma, panel speaker and University alumna with a master’s in cross-cultural and international education, outlined the positive impact international students can have on the community. She said immigrant students are great for economic growth in the city as they support Bowling Green’s businesses like housing companies and restaurants. They also make valuable contributions to campus organizations and engage in volunteering that benefits the community.
Supporting Aburahma’s points, councilman Bruce Jeffers said, “I am just selfishly interested in immigrants being welcome into my community because it’s good for me, my family, the economy and my community. You don’t even have to be nice to be welcome in my community.”
Global Detroit director and former Michigan congressman, Steve Tobocman, will be coming to the Wood County Public Library on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. to continue the discussion on immigration.
