This statement can be attributed to CLASP Executive Director Olivia Golden.

Washington, D.C.—Today President Trump announced his decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in six months. In so doing, he has chosen to uproot the lives of over 800,000 young people who have received two years of renewable work authorization and a temporary reprieve from deportation since the program’s inception in 2012. As a result, current recipients will eventually lose their DACA status and hundreds of thousands of youth who have been waiting to turn 15 to meet DACA’s age requirements will be denied the opportunity to apply for the program. DACA recipients entered the country as children, have grown up here, and call the United States home.  

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) stands with our partners in the immigrant, civil rights, faith, education, and anti-poverty communities to condemn this shameful and misguided decision. DACA is supported by the majority of Americans because it is smart policy, not only for DACA youth, but also for their families, communities, and our country’s overall economy. A recent survey reveals that more than 90 percent of DACA youth are currently employed and nearly half are enrolled in school. In addition to contributing to the economy and helping support their parents and siblings, more than a quarter of DACA recipients are also parents raising young children, the majority of whom are U.S. citizens. Robbing DACA recipients of their ability to work and putting them at risk of deportation after they willingly—and in good faith—divulged personal identifying information to the government undermines our American values of justice and fairness and threatens our nation’s future prosperity.

CLASP is committed to fighting alongside DACA youth to minimize the harm caused by this reckless decision that further promotes the Trump Administration’s agenda to oppress people of color and other marginalized communities and to defend the safety and wellbeing of immigrant families across the country. We will work with our partners in the anti-poverty, higher education, and youth communities to urge members of Congress to act quickly to pass a clean Dream Act that will provide DACA recipients and other immigrant youth with a permanent opportunity to continue their education and participate in the workforce.