AFP :
President Donald Trump plans to announce Tuesday his decision on whether to end an amnesty for hundreds of thousands of people brought to America illegally as minors and who for the most part are thoroughly integrated into US society.
His predecessor Barack Obama implemented the s0-called DACA program-Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals-five years ago to help bring these young immigrants out of the shadows of illegality, permitting them to study and work without fear.
The debate over DACA has been intense on both sides. For days White House officials have insisted that numerous options are under study, warning against any hasty conclusions before the official announcement.
But one reporting line has repeatedly surfaced: that the US president, determined to keep a central pledge to his political base to fight illegal immigration, plans to end the symbolically important program after a six-month delay intended to give Congress time to find a solution for the approximately 800,000 “Dreamers,” most of them from Latin America.
Several Republican lawmakers have warned against the temptation to cancel the popular program outright, a decision that could lead to the expulsion of many Dreamers.
Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma summed up the concern of many, saying that “we as Americans do not hold children legally accountable for the actions of their parents.”
But the prospects of a badly divided Congress reaching a compromise in months on a subject that has eluded agreement for years-immigration-seem dim.
President Donald Trump plans to announce Tuesday his decision on whether to end an amnesty for hundreds of thousands of people brought to America illegally as minors and who for the most part are thoroughly integrated into US society.
His predecessor Barack Obama implemented the s0-called DACA program-Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals-five years ago to help bring these young immigrants out of the shadows of illegality, permitting them to study and work without fear.
The debate over DACA has been intense on both sides. For days White House officials have insisted that numerous options are under study, warning against any hasty conclusions before the official announcement.
But one reporting line has repeatedly surfaced: that the US president, determined to keep a central pledge to his political base to fight illegal immigration, plans to end the symbolically important program after a six-month delay intended to give Congress time to find a solution for the approximately 800,000 “Dreamers,” most of them from Latin America.
Several Republican lawmakers have warned against the temptation to cancel the popular program outright, a decision that could lead to the expulsion of many Dreamers.
Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma summed up the concern of many, saying that “we as Americans do not hold children legally accountable for the actions of their parents.”
But the prospects of a badly divided Congress reaching a compromise in months on a subject that has eluded agreement for years-immigration-seem dim.
