Should DACA Be Ended?

• Author: Telford, Marguerite
• Position: Debate

Last fall, President Trump announced that he would do away with DACA, a program that has protected from deportation hundreds of thousands of young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Trump said the program, which was created by President Barack Obama, was illegal, and he called on Congress to come up with a replacement. Congress hasn't yet done so.

In the meantime, several judges have ruled that DACA must remain in place while various legal challenges work their way through the courts. Immigration groups have filed lawsuits to try to protect DACA, while seven states, led by Texas, have asked the courts to end it.

Here, a group that favors immigration restrictions and another that advocates for immigrants face off on whether the program should be discontinued.

YES

In 2012, the Obama administration illegally usurped Congress's power to write immigration laws when, in a memo, it created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly known as DACA. DACA has granted work permits to approximately 800,000 immigrants who had illegally entered this country before they turned 16.

This unconstitutional program should be ended. Only the people's representatives in Congress have the authority to decide whether DACA recipients should be allowed to stay, and Congress has not passed legislation to do so.

DACA is essentially an amnesty program for those who've broken the law. Amnesties like DACA are fundamentally unfair to legal immigrants who followed the rules. Allowing DACA to remain in place would benefit parents who entered the country illegally with their children, cut in line, and disregarded the legal immigration process.

DACA is also unfair to Americans who must compete with DACA recipients for jobs. When DACA began, a study found that about 20 percent of those eligible lacked high school diplomas, so it's likely that some DACA recipients are taking unskilled jobs that would have gone to the most disadvantaged Americans, both citizens and legal immigrants. DACA also doesn't require recipients to learn English or prove they can support themselves.

Besides, many DACA recipients came to the U.S. as young teens, not toddlers. Those young people spent their formative years in their home countries. It's not unreasonable to require them to return. Once back, they could use the skills and education they received here to help make those countries better places to live. It does, however, make sense for Congress to shield from...