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Trump administration forced to start renewing immigrants' legal status after court order

There are about 700,000 Dreamers who have benefited from the DACA programme

Clark Mindock
New York
Sunday 14 January 2018 20:15 GMT
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The DACA programme has helped roughly 700,000 young immigrants to find a sense of normalcy in the US
The DACA programme has helped roughly 700,000 young immigrants to find a sense of normalcy in the US (Reuters)

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The Trump administration is being forced to approve renewal requests for immigrants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival status, even though President Donald Trump has said that he would let the program expire unless Congress steps up and takes action.

The Department of Homeland Security has been forced to continue approving the renewal of DACA status for individuals who apply as a result of a federal court which recently ruled on the issue.

“Until further notice, and unless otherwise provided in this guidance, the DACA policy will be operated on the terms in place before it was rescinded on Sept. 5, 2017,” a notice from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, posted online, read.

Mr Trump’s decision in September not to keep the program left the 700,000 individuals who had qualified for the program and sought relief through it without a clear future ahead of them. The program was first started in 2012 by President Barack Obama, and has allowed those young immigrants to pursue higher education, start businesses, and pursue legal careers in the United States.

The President said while announcing the end of the program that he would like to see Congress come up with an immigration solution to help the so-called Dreamers who benefit from DACA.

But, reaching an agreement on immigration has long been a nearly impossible task in the American legislative system.

Congressional leadership has been discussing a potential deal on immigration recently, and Mr Trump has hosted those leaders in the White House to discuss potential ideas. Even so, coming to a consensus on the issue has remained elusive.

After the decision last year to get rid of DACA, young immigrants rushed to renew their protected status before they could no longer do so. The program was expected to be sharply curtailed this March.

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