Texas Border Business
Austin, TX — Today, via an announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, President Donald Trump announced his intention to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program started under President Obama in 2012, has provided relief from deportation and a work permit for over 800,000 immigrant youth, including 124,300 young Texans, called “Dreamers.”
Unless Congress acts in the next six months to pass legislation saving this popular program, hundreds of thousands of Texas immigrants and their families will lose their livelihood, and Texas will suffer a nearly $6 billion dollar annual loss due to diminished economic benefits.
Efrén C. Olivares, the Racial & Economic Justice Director with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said:
“This hypocritical and callous move by the President and his administration comes at a time of great need for the people of Texas. We are facing one of the worst natural disasters in the country’s history. While he purports to be “caring about the people of Texas,” the President has turned around and targeted the thousands of immigrant youth and families who rely on DACA.”
“But let’s be clear: State officials are largely to blame. Before facing a resounding loss in federal court over the anti-immigrant law, SB4, Attorney General Ken Paxton spearheaded the group of state officials who threatened to sue the administration to end DACA, setting today, September 5, as an artificial deadline for the President to act. Instead of protecting all Texas families during an actual emergency, our elected officials are hell-bent on attacking our most vulnerable communities through manufactured ones. This makes our entire state weaker.”
“We will not take this lying down. We are actively exploring legal action. DACA recipients are teachers in our schools, nurses in our hospitals, and first responders in Houston. We will stand with immigrant youth in Texas through this time.”
