Our President today claimed that all these flows of people are trying to take advantage of DACA. Who knows, maybe he's April Foolin'. Realistically he's just straight bullshitting.
The eligibility considerations alone are not well understood by the broad public. A DACA recipient must:
1. Be born on or after June 16, 1981
2. Have resided in the USA since June 15, 2007
3. Have been physically present in the USA on June 15, 2012
4. Be in school or already in possession of a high-school diploma or GED
5. Not have criminal history beyond 1 or 2 misdemeanors
6. Be at least 15 years old.
7. Came to the USA before turning 16.
2. Have resided in the USA since June 15, 2007
3. Have been physically present in the USA on June 15, 2012
4. Be in school or already in possession of a high-school diploma or GED
5. Not have criminal history beyond 1 or 2 misdemeanors
6. Be at least 15 years old.
7. Came to the USA before turning 16.
There are objectively true things we can conclude from this.
The most important is that potential DACA status applies to a fixed population. While not everyone who is potentially eligible has applied, no one coming into the USA after DACA went into effect is eligible. Any narrative about family bringing in young children to take advantage of it is completely false.
Another serious point is that it can only apply to people who reasonably came to the USA without understanding the illegality of it, or at least were not in a position to make a judgment about it. While they came here illegally, it's highly debatable if they themselves actually committed a crime (I'd tend to say no). They lack(ed) legal status, but are not criminals.
They are required to complete, or be in the process of completing, at least a high school education. If they drop out, their DACA status is lost and they become eligible for deportation. This is a higher standard than we hold our own citizens to.
They can't commit a felony or serious misdemeanor, or be a repeat minor offender. If they do, status is lost and deportation can follow. This is a higher standard than we hold our own citizens to.
If DACA stops taking new applications today, anyone eligible who was less than about 5 years old will not be able to apply (since they would not yet be 15 today). These people probably have no memory of their home country, there's a decent chance they don't speak their home language to any level of proficiency, and probably grew up as "American" as anyone else here. Current rumblings say DACA applications will cease early next year (this is the '6 months' Trump is talking about), leaving this most vulnerable population the most affected.
