Kamala Harris Tells DACA Recipients: ‘We Still Have Your Back’

kamala harris

Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris has assured hundreds of thousands of young undocumented migrants in the U.S. that a future Joe Biden administration will allow them to stay in the country, on the third anniversary of President Donald Trump’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Newsweek reported.

The 2012 DACA allows young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the country, protecting them from deportation. There are some 800,000 DACA recipients—so-called “Dreamers”—living in the U.S., who qualified by being younger than 31 as of 15 June 2012.

All DACA recipients are vetted for any criminal history or threat to national security. All must be students or have completed school or military service, and their status must be renewed every two years.

The Trump administration announced in September 2017 that it would phase out the program as part of its push to tighten America’s southern border and reduce the scale of migration from South and Central America. The administration claimed the DACA program—introduced by President Barack Obama—is unlawful and unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the DACA program in June, rejecting Trump’s bid to end it. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 5-4 majority opinion, describing Trump’s effort to end DACA as “arbitrary and capricious.”

Harris tweeted Saturday: “Three years ago today, the administration arbitrarily tried to end DACA and threw hundreds of thousands of Dreamers’ lives into crisis. I want every Dreamer to know that we still have your back. Your home is here, and we must continue fighting to ensure that.”

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