Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling announced Thursday that he has signed on to a United States Conference of Mayors letter urging the U.S. Congress to pass legislation regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program “to maintain safety and security for the 800,000 people who are adding to the richness of our country.”
President Donald Trump decided earlier this week to terminate the program, which allows young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to continue to live, work and study in the U.S.
“Vacation yes, but still work to be done,” Earling said in a Facebook post Thursday night while in Hawaii. “I signed on to the United States Conference of Mayors letter of support today for DACA legislation to maintain safety and security for the 800,000 people who are adding to the richness of our country. We cannot and should not leave them adrift.”
Responding to President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday, Sept. 5 that he was terminating the DACA program, the U.S. Conference of Mayors sent an open letter to Congress, urging quick action on bipartisan legislation that would enable DREAMers to earn lawful permanent residence and eventually American citizenship if they meet certain criteria.
“America’s mayors stand ready to do whatever they can to assist Congress in seeing such legislation enacted into law,” the letter said.
The Conference of Mayors has had strong policy supporting DACA since the program began. Last month, the Conference of Mayors President, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, sent a letter to President Trump urging him to continue the program. At the USCM Annual Meeting in June, the nation’s mayors passed a resolution to support an extension of the DACA program and permanent legal status for DREAMERs.
“This is not only deeply flawed public policy, but a morally deficient decision that instills fear, tears apart our communities, and is contrary to the fabric of what makes this country great,” Landrieu said. “These are young people in our public schools, in our colleges, embedded in our work force, and living in our neighborhoods. By no choice of their own, they came to this great nation and know of no other home. While they may not have had the blessing to be born in the United State of America, they are as much a part of this great country as my own children and it’s a shame that the president and his policy making don’t recognize that.”
Why haven’t they applied for citizenship already? It seems most have had plenty of time and this was an executive order that was temporary – Obama recognized that at the time. This s not anything passed by congress. I am disappointed you are not seeing this and your consistent negativity to anything the President does.
DACA does not open the door to citizenship, it just grants a job authorization and safety from deportation. Applicants must have a clean record. DACA only lasted 3 years and could be renewed for 2 more years.
Rosamaria is correct. DACA recipients are not eligible for citizenship. Look it up.
Sandra, my question exactly?.. I still want numbers on how many paid the money (immigrants) for DACA when it started?
800K paid around $500 to apply for DACA. The process lasted between 6-18 months. All of them had to have a clean record
Joy, this web site had some data that may provide some answers about how many have applied and received permits. I read the numbers to be around 790,000 in total. Pretty close to the 800,000 folks are quoting.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/01/unauthorized-immigrants-covered-by-daca-face-uncertain-future/
It was pretty easy to simply search for the answer. Does that help?
Up until a week ago, I also wondered why DACA recipients didn’t just apply for citizenship because I thought that they had plenty of time. As it turns out, they can’t. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Reform Act of 1996 makes it impossible. If you enter the country illegally and stay 180 to 365 days, you have to leave the US and stay out for 3 years before you are eligible to apply. If you stay more than 365 days, you have to leave the US and remain out of the country for 10 years before you are eligible to apply for citizenship. As Congress approved a law not allowing citizenship, Congress has to pass a lot to allow it.
DACA is a program limited only to a specific group of people – those who entered the US as children under the age of 16, have to be 15 or older to apply, have to have lived in the US continuously from June 15, 2007 to present, were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012, are in school or graduated or in the military, and can’t have committed any crimes. Then they receive a permit to stay or go to school for 2 years. They have to reapply every 2 years, if the program is still in place. It was designed to be a stop gap while Congress fixed the problem. Congress has not done a thing. It is time for Democrats and Republicans to stop kicking the can and pass legislation that fixes the problem.
Thank you Tina; this is very informative.
I wish our Administration would explain it this well.
Thank you for this. I knew part – the temporary part and that it was up to Congress not the President to change this. I appreciate the information. Wouldn’t you think the mayors would be knowledgeable about it.