DREAMers on edge over Trump on fifth anniversary of protected status

Alan Gomez | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption How DREAMers get to stay in U.S. More than 780,000 DREAMers have been allowed to stay in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program created under President Obama. Many worry about their future under President Trump.

Five years ago Thursday, President Barack Obama announced the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to protect hundreds of thousands of "DREAMers," undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation.

President Trump has allowed DACA to continue — at least for now. That has enraged critics of the program, who oppose any leniency for undocumented immigrants, and struck fear in enrollees and applicants, who worry Trump will shut it down at any time.

"It's a feeling of knowing there's something in your hands that's working, but at the same time, there's a level of anxiety," said Greisa Martinez, 28, a Mexican native and DACA enrollee who works for United We Dream, a coalition of young undocumented immigrants in Washington, D.C. "We are on high alert about what's going to happen with our program."

The program requires applicants to show they have haven't committed any serious crimes, attended school or joined the military, and arrived in the U.S. before they turned 16. If approved, they receive a two-year reprieve from deportation, a work permit and the opportunity to renew their DACA status if they stay out of trouble.

Ever since, more than 780,000 have been accepted, with most now on their second or third renewal.

Trump had vowed throughout his presidential campaign to end the program, which he described as "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants and an abuse of Obama's presidential powers.

"People were very much waiting with baited breath to see what happened," said Michael Jarecki, an immigration attorney in Chicago. "The entire DACA community was afraid of the program being pulled."

That led to a rush of applications while Obama was still in the White House. More than 114,000 people applied from October to December of 2016, up 128% from the same period the year before.

After Trump took office, he allowed the program to continue, arguing that DREAMers represent a unique population who deserve to be treated "with heart." That decision angered some supporters. Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates for lower levels of immigration, said he hears member complaints every day about Trump's failure to abolish DACA.

"We regard this as being a really clearly broken promise," Beck said. "A lot of people say, 'He's in a tough situation, it's hard for him to make a lot of things happen.' But this was an executive order, so he can stop it. You really can't say that the courts or Congress or anybody else is in the way."

Supporters of the program initially did not know what to make of Trump's failure to scrap DACA. Jarecki said his clients were all in a holding pattern, but finally decided in early February the program would remain and they could resume their applications.

"I don't know what happened, I don't know what factor touched him, but I'm pleased to see that the program is continuing," he said.

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It's not known how many applications have been approved during Trump's presidency. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said more than 124,000 applications were approved from January to March. But that period included 20 days under Obama, and the agency did not say how many were approved while he was still in office.

The excitement by DACA supporters that the program was still in effect turned to dread when it became clear that enrollees were not safe from deportation. On average, the Obama administration revoked the DACA status and deported seven people a month. In Trump's first full month in office, the administration deported 43 former DACA enrollees.

The Trump administration said enrollees still could be deported at any moment. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a March 9 tweet, "DACA is not a protected legal status." Then more DACA enrollees started getting rounded up.

In January, Customs and Border Protection officers deported DACA enrollee Juan Manuel Montes, 23, who claims he was simply waiting for a ride in his southern California city when he was picked up and sent across the border.

Daniel Ramirez Medina, 24, a native of Mexico, has been held in a Washington state detention center since February after ICE agents arrested him and claimed he had gang ties, a claim he rejects.

On Monday, a federal judge in Atlanta ordered the government to reinstate the DACA status of Jessica Colotl, a Mexico native whose status was stripped by federal agents who claimed she gave a false address to local police six years ago.

Those stepped-up enforcement actions have made DACA recipients nervous about their future. "The feeling back in 2012 was (DACA) was a step in the right direction to something more permanent for these kids, like permanent legal status or citizenship," said Katie Sarreshteh, a Los Angeles immigration attorney who has helped hundreds of people prepare their DACA applications.

"Instead of feeling that optimism now, I'm worried they're going to betray all these kids who have come forward and handed over all their information to the federal government," Sarreshteh said. "It's sad."