In the original Star Wars series, the dark Darth Vader surprised everyone by saving his son, the young Luke Skywalker. With his statements about Mexicans and vows to build a wall and deport 11 million people, much of the immigration community has assumed Donald Trump is, in their eyes, a Darth Vader figure. But can Trump turn the tables and surprise people by saving the day for Dreamers?
The story for many “Dreamers” started years ago when they came to America as children, often with parents who simply sought a better life for them. These children grew up and went to school but lacked something their friends possessed – legal status. That meant these young people could be deported at any moment.
A legislative effort called “The Dream Act,” hence the name “Dreamers,” went nowhere, and all seemed lost, until Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) started talking about a compromise proposal to protect Dreamers from deportation. Whether or not Rubio’s efforts embarrassed the Obama Administration by showing a Republican (a potential presidential candidate) could care about children, too, it had the effect of spurring President Barack Obama to act.
In June 2012, President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The executive action ultimately protected more than 700,000 people who came to America before age 16, lacked legal status, were studying or had completed high school or college, and had not committed a felony or serious misdemeanor. Such individuals could be granted temporary legal status and work authorization, which could be renewed after two years.
The problem with any executive action is that, unlike a new law, it can be erased by the next president. That is what many have anticipated will happen, since during the campaign Donald Trump said he would rescind President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
However, during a recent interview with Time magazine, Donald Trump left the door open on solving the problem for Dreamers. “We’re going to work something out that’s going to make people happy and proud,” he said. “They got brought here at a very young age, they’ve worked here, they’ve gone to school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs. And they’re in never-never land because they don’t know what’s going to happen.”
What are the options for Donald Trump? One option is to rescind the executive order and stay silent, leaving it to Congress to decide whether to act. That course of action would confirm critics’ views of him.
A second, better, option, would be for Trump to allow DACA to continue but ask Congress to pass legislation within the year to address the plight of Dreamers.
One approach would be a bill similar to the original legislative compromise discussed by Sen. Rubio. Such a bill would grant legal status (but not permanent residence) to individuals who match the eligibility standards for (or already have received) DACA. Individuals who meet the DACA standard could remain in this lawful status without the risk of deportation and, in theory, could become lawful permanent residents at some point in the future if they qualified for a family-based or employment-based green card. Such a bill would respond to the original criticism that President Obama had usurped the role of Congress.
Once Donald Trump takes office, he will have the power to resolve this issue. In fact, it will be one of his first challenges. Will he surprise his critics, as he appears to relish doing? In other words, will “the Force” be with him? We’ll know soon.
