The Hispanic community is waiting for the next announcements from the White House, especially from Congress, regarding the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Since President Donald Trump decided to phase out the program on September 5 of this year, the issue has been in the public spotlight and the more than 800.000 DACA beneficiaries have been kept on edge for fear of being deported from the United States.
As for Tennessee, Attorney General Herbert Slatery had spoken in favor of repealing what was one of the most applauded initiatives by Latinos during the Barack Obama presidency.
However, after evaluating the human side of DACA, he changed his mind drastically and backed out of a lawsuit against the program, acknowledging the contributions that the beneficiaries can leave to the country. “Many of the DACA recipients, some of whose records I have reviewed, have outstanding achievements and laudable ambitions that, if achieved, will be of great benefit and service to our country, and they appreciate the opportunities that our country provides us,” they were some of the public statements offered by the prosecutor.
Surprisingly, Slatery urged senators from his state's Republican Party to support the granting of permanent legal status to those protected by DACA.
It is not the first time that the Tennessee government has been open to this policy, remember that in April 2015 the state senate approved a bill so that young people could pay the cost of university tuition at the same price as I would become a resident, since for undocumented immigrants the payment rises up to three times more, regardless of whether they have lived a lifetime in Tennessee.
The radical stance of Trump and other Republicans to revoke the DACA program is based not only on the fact that there are undocumented people in the country, but they are also occupying jobs that could be of American citizens.
Six months for a decision
DACA is a program that protects people who entered the territory of the United States before reaching the age of 16, who have been called “dreamers”.
It is a policy that protects Hispanics who were just children when they arrived in the country. DACA not only prevents dreamers from being deported, it also allows them to obtain a temporary work permit, driver's license, and obtain a social security number.
Now the legal status of Hispanics after the measure announced by President Trump is in the hands of Congress, which has until March 5, 2018 to make a final decision on the matter, because only with the approval of a law could give protection to program members. It is not an easy matter to resolve, considering that Republicans have struggled for years to pass immigration reform.
As the months go by, the suspense grows in the dreamers. The United States is for them the only country they know, they came here as children for what they consider innocent of all this legal entanglement in which they are mired.
In Tennessee at least 8.000 people have used DACA to work and live legally. Mobilizations in defense of the program were held in cities like Nashville, which perhaps resonated in the attorney general's conscience, motivating him to reconsider the demand.
Hispanics are an important workforce, not only in Tennessee but in the rest of the country, where they have been able to develop professionally and make a contribution to the nation. According to a study by the University of Tennessee Business and Economics Center, the state has the third-fastest-growing Hispanic community in the country, and at least half are born here.
But regardless of what has been said so far about DACA, Hispanics have the support of certain sectors. An example of this is the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS), which will continue to be committed to the education of all its students whether or not they are undocumented.
"CMCSS does not treat students differently, regardless of whether children are documented or undocumented, and does not keep a record of their legal status or citizenship documents upon registration or at any time during their enrollment."
If you want to know more about this topic, don't miss the third edition of Hispanic Entrepreneurs.
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