HOUSTON — The Trump administration today announced the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. The DACA program has served as a critical lifeline for nearly 800,000 young immigrants, or “Dreamers,” who came to this country as children and know the United States as their only home.
The following is a statement from Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas, reacting to the White House announcement rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program:
“In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the people of Texas have shown the nation just what the strength, resilience, and compassion of unified American communities can achieve. Texas’s Dreamers were victims of the flood, first responders to the flood, and at least one—Alonso Guillen of Lufkin—was a volunteer who gave his life to rescue his fellow Texans from the flood. But rather than heed Harvey’s hard-taught lessons of unity and solidarity, Gov. Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and President Trump have chosen to sow chaos, uncertainty, and division into our communities. We call on Congress to pass a standalone bipartisan Dream Act and preserve our nation’s best traditions from the cruel and cynical forces that brought about the end of the DACA program.”
