New DACA legislation, the Succeed Act, hoping for conservative approval

Courtesy of Harrie van Veen

Protesters outside of Trump Tower in New York City after announced repeal of DACA on Sept. 5

Muskan Mishra, Reporter/SCC

According to a recent report from ABC News titled, Republicans introduce conservative DACA fix that offers path to citizenship two Republican senators have introduced a bill called the Succeed Act, that would allow a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands young undocumented immigrants.

The new legislation is already garnering criticism from supporters of DACA.

The Dreamers, would be required under this new bill to pass a criminal background check, been in the U.S. since June 15, 2012 and entered before the age of 16. Applicants would also need to submit biometric and biographical data to the Department of Homeland Security and pay off any tax liabilities and sign a waiver for future immigration benefits if they violate their status..

Dreamers would also be banned from sponsoring family members and this is just one of several conditions that Democrats and backers of DACA find fault with in the new Republican Succeed Act.

President Trump put into action his plan to end the Obama regulation that protected undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children. An estimated 800,000 young people would be affected.

On Sept. 5, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the announcement that the DACA program would come to an end.

A CNN report, “Sessions as face of DACA decision reveals internal struggle,” breaks down the Sessions statement.

“If we are to further our goal of strengthening the constitutional order and the rule of law in America, the Department of Justice cannot defend this type of overreach,” Sessions said.

Since the announcement, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website states that they no longer are accepting applicants for the DACA program.

DACA was created by former president Barack Obama in 2012 and was designed to protect minors that were brought or came to the U.S. illegally, they are known as the Dreamers.

The program protects them from immediate deportation and allows the Dreamers to get a two-year extension by issuing a work permit and a Social Security number.

DACA recipients must meet several requirements such as having to come to the U.S. before turning 16 years of age, having lived in the U.S. since June 15 2012, and no criminal record. DACA does not give beneficiaries legal U.S. residency instead they are given a reprieve from deportation while being allowed to legally work.

The public is left with many questions.

Social media sites have been flooded with opinions about the issue.

DACA immigrant, Anndrea Garcia, told Northeast Valley News that although not surprised by the decision on the part of Trump, she was nonetheless disappointed by his decision.

“I think that Trump’s decision to end DACA was expected, it wasn’t the outcome I had hoped for, but we were getting constant reminders throughout his presidency,” Garcia said. “It’s definitely upsetting and I didn’t think this would happen so soon into his presidency. Since DACA was implemented during the Obama administration, Republicans at the time, were very against the program and I believe Trump had a lot of pressure from his constituents to follow through with his word from his campaign trail,” Garcia said.

Democrats and Republicans have six months to agree on a bill before DACA ends.