On Sept. 5, 2017 President Donald Trump’s administration announced that the DACA program would be phased out. The DACA program is the Obama-era initiative that has provided the children of unauthorized immigrants, many who were brought here illegally, a reprieve from deportation and the right to work.
The last extension request of that benefit by a DACA recipient occurred this week on October 5, 2017 as part of the phase out process and USCIS will not entertain any more requests for DACA extensions after this week.
The decision to end DACA has challenged Congress to pass a law to allow DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers”, to legally remain in the country. If those legislative efforts fail, the end of DACA will affect more than just children, college students and their families.
A major newspaper in Texas has reported that Texas stands to lose about 2,000 teachers who are DACA recipients, and as many as 20,000 teachers with DACA would be affected nationwide.
Within a few years these teachers will not be able to lawfully work in the U.S. The loss of such teachers will deeply impact bilingual education, where there’s a constant dearth of educators.
Hopefully, we will see a win-win solution down the road before DACA reaches the end of the road.
