Trump's deadline for Congress to fix DACA passes with no action

Cesar Espinoza, left, speaks during a press conference Saturday about being an undocumented immigrant and in support of DACA and Sylvia Garcia, right, in her bid for U.S. Congress. Cesar Espinoza, left, speaks during a press conference Saturday about being an undocumented immigrant and in support of DACA and Sylvia Garcia, right, in her bid for U.S. Congress. Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Trump's deadline for Congress to fix DACA passes with no action 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

President Donald Trump imposed a March 5 deadline on Congress to come up with a solution for young immigrants who came here illegally as children.

If not, the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals would cease, and about 700,000 youth would start losing their work permits and be at risk of deportation.

The issue roiled Washington, spurred a brief government shutdown, and ended much as debates over immigration have gone in the past two decades: At an impasse.

But politicians were partially spared the prospect of sudden mass panic among immigrant youth.

Two federal judges in California and New York ruled earlier this year that the president might have violated an administrative procedure in ending the program. They paused its termination, pending the legal arguments, and allowed all youth who once had the two-year work permits to renew them.

That rendered Monday's deadline essentially meaningless.

But it is not a permanent solution, as no new immigrant youth can apply, meaning all those who who have become eligible since Trump ended the program in September are without protection and unable to work.

READ MORE: Justices reject bid for Trump appeal in 'Dreamer' permits

SEE ALSO: What is the status on DACA and what does the March 5 'deadline' actually mean?

Across Houston and the country, immigrant youth protested and staged walk-outs Monday, asking Congress to come up with a fix. In Houston, activists with the advocacy group United We Dream planned a march and noon walk-out at YES Prep on 13703 Aldine Westfield Road.

The advocacy group FIEL Houston is holding a 7 p.m. town hall at Houston Community College's East Campus to provide the latest news on DACA, including attorneys who can offer general counsel.

Across the nation, immigrant youth organized similar events. In Washington, activists dressed in white wigs, canes, and walkers, and staged a sit-in blocking the entrance to the headquarters of the Democratic National Headquarters to dramatize the 17-year-long wait for Congress to pass the DREAM Act.

They said they blamed Democrats for not holding the Trump administration accountable and forcing Republicans to make a fix.

"The Democrats made the calculation to kick the can down the road and allow hundreds of thousands of us undocumented youth to live in uncertainty," Maria Duarte, one of the activists, said in a statement. "We are anxious and we are scared of being torn away from their homes and our community."

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Polls show more than 80 percent of Americans support some way for allowing such youth to legally remain.