In September, President Trump ordered an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that had been put into place by the Obama Administration in 2012. DACA permitted young undocumented aliens who reside in the U.S. and were brought by their parents to the country illegally as children, and who met strict eligibility requirements, to work in the U.S. legally and avoid deportation for two years, with the option for renewal of DACA status.
In ordering an end to the DACA program, however, the Administration did not terminate it immediately but rather announced that it would be phased out over the next six months, in essence giving the U.S. Congress the opportunity to develop bipartisan legislation to address the immigration status of DACA recipients on a more permanent basis and on a stronger legal footing.
Prospects for favorable action on DACA legislation may have gotten a little more complicated, however, as the result of an October 8, 2017, letter sent by President Trump to Congress outlining his immigration principles and policies that must be addressed in any legislation to restore the DACA program. Among other things, the President’s letter calls for making the E-Verify program mandatory for all employers, funding for the southern border wall and associated infrastructure, and denying federal funding to so-called “sanctuary” cities.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.