STATEMENT BY YWCA MCLEAN COUNTY CONCERNING DACA
Consistent with an ongoing agenda rooted in xenophobia and the terrorizing of communities of color, the Trump administration has rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA, an executive order enacted by President Obama in 2012, alleviated the immediate threat of deportation for more than 800,000 undocumented millennials who met the eligibility requirements which included a clean criminal record, a high school diploma, and those who entered the U.S. as children.
For these young people who came of age as Americans, DACA did not afford full citizenship, but rather two year permits for those approved under the program. This allowed DACA recipients to continue to study and work in their communities with minimized threat of detention and deportation.
With no viable option for citizenship, these young people, who, in applying for DACA, voluntarily submitted their documented status and personal information to the federal government, face a very real and grave threat of being targeted for deportation. At the beginning of the DACA journey, people were fearful and often had to be convinced to come forward. This reversal is their nightmare and is corrosive to the trust established between the government and the people of the United States.
Removal of DACA is a threat to our entire community. Driven into the shadows, these young people are at heightened risk for abuse and exploitation, and are less likely to cooperate with law enforcement, putting everybody in danger. What’s worse is that should these young people be deported, they will never be eligible for U.S. citizenship again. Which not only means permanent loss of family and friends, classmates, and colleagues, but as parents of U.S. citizens this creates the potential for a child welfare crisis or the forced displacement of small American children.
At YWCA McLean County, we see this for what it really is: racial profiling, xenophobia, and bad public policy. We are outraged that this promise is being broken, and that those who came to this country as children will be criminalized and driven underground. DACA does not hurt anyone, it provided an opportunity for young undocumented people to emerge from the shadows, go through a system of vetting, and live without fear in the communities in which they grew up.
We at YWCA McLean County stand with all undocumented Americans, and will fight back, not only for DACA, but for a comprehensive immigration reform that is the solution we’ve needed for decades. We are calling on congress and our Illinois elected officials – Rodney Davis and Darin LaHood – to stand up and push through a solution, like the DREAM Act. We call on our entire community stand with us, contact your member of Congress, and demand protection and a path to citizenship for these trusting young people.