On June 15, 2012, President Barack Obama stood in the White House Rose Garden and changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants. By his executive order, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program protected them from deportation and granted access to educational and work opportunities that have allowed many of them to thrive.
However, DACA was never meant as a permanent solution. It was a stopgap response to legislative inaction on immigration. Ten years later, the program has proved an unquestionable boon to America, yet these young people without legal permission to be in the U.S. remain in legal limbo as Congress’ disgraceful dithering continues.
To allow a decade to pass is shameful; to allow it to go on any longer would be a tragedy.
