The Trump administration Tuesday formally announced it will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — also called DACA — putting an expiration date on the legal protections granted to roughly 800,000 people known as "DREAMers," who entered the country illegally as children.
President Trump issued a statement, saying, "I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws."
He also said he looks forward to working with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to address immigration issues "in a manner that puts the hardworking citizens of our country first."
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime opponent of the policy, made the formal announcement Tuesday morning. He called DACA "unilateral executive amnesty" and said the Obama administration "deliberately sought to achieve what the legislative branch specifically refused to authorize on multiple occasions. Such an open-ended circumvention of immigration laws was an unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch." He said DACA "denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing those same illegal aliens to take those jobs."
Sessions added, "We cannot admit everyone who would like to come here. It's just that simple."
Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke said the administration, facing legal challenges to the program, "chose the least disruptive option," letting the program wind down in six months and placing the onus on a sharply divided Congress to enact former President Barack Obama's executive action into law.
In a statement, Duke said no current beneficiaries will be affected before March 5 of next year. But "No new initial requests or associated applications filed after today will be acted on," she said.
Duke said the administration's decision to terminate DACA "was not taken lightly. The Department of Justice has carefully evaluated the program's constitutionality and determined it conflicts with our existing immigration laws."
Trump signaled the decision earlier on Tuesday, tweeting, "Congress, get ready to do your job - DACA."
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., responded to the announcement in a statement saying, "It is my hope that the House and Senate, with the president's leadership, will be able to find consensus on a permanent legislative solution that includes ensuring that those who have done nothing wrong can still contribute as a valued part of this great country."
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called the administration's decision "heartless." He said Democrats "will do everything we can to prevent President Trump's terribly wrong order from becoming reality."
Former Vice President Joe Biden tweeted that the move was "cruel."
DACA allowed individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children or teens before mid-2007 to apply for protection from deportation and work permits if they met certain requirements. Beneficiaries had to be under the age of 16 upon entering the country; no older than 31 as of June 15, 2012; lived continuously in the U.S. since mid-2007; be enrolled in high school or college, already have a diploma or degree, have a GED certificate or be an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. military; and have no felony criminal convictions, significant misdemeanor convictions, no more than three other misdemeanor convictions or otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.