WATSONVILLE — Thousands of young immigrants across the U.S. are girding themselves for a decision by President Donald Trump about the fate of a program that allows them to legally work and attend college in the United States.
Trump has indicated that he might scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program created in 2012 by President Barack Obama.
He is under pressure from 10 state attorneys general, led by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, to end DACA by Sept. 5, or face a lawsuit.
Members of Trump’s own party, meanwhile – House Speaker Paul Ryan among them – have urged the president not to end the program.
At the same time, an Aug. 31 letter signed by hundreds of presidents and CEOs of corporations and tech companies urged Trump to keep the program.
“Dreamers are vital to the future of our companies and our economy,” the letter read. “With them, we grow and create jobs. They are part of why we will continue to have a global competitive advantage.”
The program allows people who immigrated illegally with their parents before their 16th birthday, and who do not have serious crimes on their record, to receive a renewable two-year period of deportation protection, and eligibility for a work permit.
An estimated 787,580 people have benefitted from the program.
But DACA – and programs like it – have come under fire by Republican lawmakers and by Trump, who made hardline anti-immigrant rhetoric part of his campaign platform.
The president has vacillated in his public support for the program, at one point saying “we love dreamers.” That name used for DACA recipients came from the failed DREAM Act, an amnesty bill for undocumented immigrants that was rejected by lawmakers numerous times.
The president has also said he might allow current DACA recipients to stay through their current work permits.
In April, Trump said beneficiaries of the DACA program could “rest easy” because his priority was focusing on criminals. He also called DACA “unconstitutional” during his campaign.
Opponents of the law say it is an expensive and illegal overreach of presidential authority.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during a Friday press briefing that Trump will make an announcement on the fate of the program on Tuesday.
Sanders deflected further media questions on the subject.
“We’re in the process of making that decision and finalizing those details,” she said. “The president has been very clear he loves people, and he wants to make sure that decision is made carefully.”
Watsonville Immigration Lawyer Doug Keegan, who serves as program director for the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project, said that eliminating the project would be “tragic.”
“This will wreak havoc with young people who were able to emerge from the shadows, who were protected from deportation, who worked and pursued education and made a future for themselves under the DACA program,” Keegan said.
Keegan added that deporting the DACA recipients would also have a financial impact, as nearly 800,000 people are removed from the workforce.
“These people have been contributing to the economy, to the Social Security and Medicare funds and to our tax base,” he said.
A study published earlier this year by the Center for American Progress showed that the U.S. faces a gross domestic product (GDP) loss of $433.4 billion over a decade if the program is eliminated. In California, that number would be $11.3 billion, the report showed.
Keegan advised that anyone who could be affected by the impending decision to seek the advice of a trusted professional if Trump makes good on his pledge to end the DACA program.
He said there will likely be waves of inaccurate information and rumors in the wake of such a decision, and that trusting “unscrupulous providers” could land people in deeper legal troubles.
“Let’s try to wait for the decision, and hope for the best,” he said. “But if it’s the worst, let’s take it from there.”
Former Watsonville Mayor and California Assemblyman, and current Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo said DACA has been a “true success story.”
“The proposed elimination of this program not only hurts hundreds of young people in Watsonville and throughout the Monterey Bay region, but it will hurt California’s economy too,” Alejo said.
Ramiro Medrano, a Pajaro Valley Unified School District counselor who advises the PV High School Dreamer Club, said that eliminating the program would be a hardship for many undocumented students, some of whom are so accustomed to life here they don’t speak Spanish.
“It’s going to affect our community a lot,” he said.
Medrano also co-founded the Dreamer Network, which provides financial and academic support for immigrant college students.
“Without DACA, not only will they be not able to legally work but they won’t be here legally and will face deportation,” he said.
Jazmin Hernandez, 23, said the DACA program allowed her to attend CSU Monterey Bay after graduating from Watsonville High School in 2012, and get a job in PVUSD helping middle and high school students work toward college.
Hernandez, whose DACA authorization expires in January, said her current yearlong contract at Watsonville High School was thrown into uncertainty recently, when Trump suggested he might eliminate the program.
If that happens, she said she would have to find another way to support herself and her 22-month-old daughter.
“It’s upsetting and frustrating,” Hernandez said. “It brings me back to the reality that, no matter how educated I am and how much I want to help students, all that matters is my immigration status.”
If Trump allows the program to stand, however, Hernandez said she is ready to renew her DACA authorization.
“I already filled out my paperwork,” she said. “I’m just waiting to see how it comes out.”
