The American dream is a long sought after concept. For Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, the dream became a reality.

DACA allows young adults who were brought to the US illegally as children to remain without fear of immediate removal from the country and gives them the right to work legally.

According to Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis  from the New York Times “Mr. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who announced the change at the Justice Department, both used the aggrieved language of anti-immigrant activists, arguing that those in the country illegally are lawbreakers who hurt native-born Americans by usurping their jobs and pushing down wages.” Trump and Sessions rhetoric essentially claims that DACA recipients are criminals who are responsible for low wages.

Recipients of DACA are certainly not criminals but are individuals seeking to better themselves. In the guidelines stipulated by the Department of Homeland Security. DACA recipients must currently be in school or have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States. Also the must

not have been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.

In short, they must be educated or currently being educated and cannot be criminals. This can be interpreted as DACA recipients must be positively contributing to society.

DACA recipients willing paid a fee and provided their personal information to the government in hopes of being legally acknowledged by the United States.

Jose Antonio Vargas from the New York Times  wrote “Applicants paid a $465 fee for processing and gave all their contact information (name, address, phone number) to the government they had grown up fearing. In effect, the Obama administration said, Trust us.”

Trump’s administration is ignoring the willingness of DACA recipients to legally attain the American dream. In his campaign against DACA, he has broken the the trust built by the previous government’ administration.

Government isn’t continuous and decisions are made in a term. Whether said decisions are considered good or bad; they could vanish with the next president. Living in todays society means living by a political governing term. DACA recipients are currently, directly experiencing life by political governing term.

Individuals states, namely California, have taken matters into their own hands and filed a lawsuit against the rescindment of DACA.

Patrick McGreevy from the Los Angeles times reports “State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said he decided to file a suit separate from legal actions by 15 other states, the University of California and civil rights activists because California and its economy will be hurt the most by the president’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

Thousands of Californians are DACA recipients and rescinding DACA does not only disrupt the lives of theses individuals (plunging them into the unknown) but also unsettles California. General Becerra shows that there are individuals still willing to support the immigrants hope of the American dream.

2 Responses to “The End of DACA: Living by Political Governing Terms.”

  1.   Engels said:

    In the Lede maybe just specify again that DACA is being shut down, I know you say it on the title but it could be good to remember that to the readers at the end of the lede.

    Other than that I feel is a well structured article. good information!

  2.   Sondra said:

    Good lede. Some mechanics errors need to be fixed. Flow needs to be fixed in some instances, read out loud to yourself to find them. Be careful of unneeded repetition of information.

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