The President of the United States is reportedly considering bringing DACA to an end. If he does he will be hurting Americans, and not Americans in the sense that Hondurans, Canadians, and Uruguayans are Americans but in the sense that I and my girlfriend, a Puerto-Rican raised abroad and a Salvadorian born and raised in the United States respectively, are Americans. DACA does not protect foreigners. It protects Americans who are American in everything but legal status. And in today’s post I will be doing something I never imagined I’d have to do: ask my readers to protect the American Dream.

What Is DACA?

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is better known as DACA. DACA actually has its origin as a policy first announced by former President Barack Obama, who announced it on June 15th 2012. The USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) began taking applications August of that same year. In order to be eligible applicants must meet the following conditions: they must have been in the United States prior to June 2007, must not have been 16 or older at the time, be enrolled in school, be a high school graduate, or have served in the military, be under 31 prior to June 15th 2012, not be convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor or three misdemeanors, and/or not pose a threat to national security. People who become Dreamers (those who are approved, named after the 2001 DREAM Act) receive a renewable period of deferred action from deportation and gain eligibility for a work permit, thus encouraging them to not live in the shadows anymore.

What Is The Impact Of DACA?

Analyzing the impact of DACA is complicated but studies have shown that there are positive educational and economic outcomes associated with the program. This is not surprising but it’s being ignored by those who call for DACA to be done away with. The exact impact shown by the first study is that Dreamers have work, with some 87% of those surveyed having jobs and another 8% being in school but not employed. Nearly all of those surveyed in school said that they were able to pursue educational opportunities previously blocked off from them due to DACA’s influence.

The impact of DACA means that getting rid of it would have an impact as well. This impact has been researched by the libertarian CATO Institute and has been found to be significant. The Institute found that the gains would be small and the costs would be large if Dreamers were forced out of the country and they are not alone.

Dreamers Gain Unlikely Allies:

Republican congresspeople and undocumented individuals are not typically allies. That being said this especially political version of the Upside Down has seen Republican congresspeople coming to the aid of Dreamers with specific examples including: Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican Senator, South Carolina) and Senator Dick Durbin (Democratic Senator, Illinois) coming together with the bipartisan Bridge Act, Paul Ryan and Orrin Hatch (which actually isn’t surprising given the 2001 Dream Act) urging President Trump to not repeal DACA. It’s clear that the Republicans who are sending in some cases strong signals to President Trump not to attack DACA view these undocumented children as Americans or at the very least understand that many of us view them as Americans. Paul Ryan basically called them Americans in his statement on Friday to President Trump and that’s significant.

Dreamers Are Americans:

The objective reality is that if a child was raised here, not remembering another country and chooses to live here they are Americans. Not every Dreamer is the same but it’s worth noting that if you meet the requirements to become a Dreamer you are an American. We can mince words here but we shouldn’t. People who’ve been here since 2007 and graduated from our high schools, our universities, served in our militaries, and worked in this nation are members of this nation unless they consciously choose not to be and by applying to become a Dreamer, Dreamers have shown that they chose this nation and we should make a decision to eagerly accept that choice.

By defending Dreamers we are in fact defending the American Dream. We are allowing people to choose to become and be considered Americans. We are fighting for our own when we fight for Dreamers. We are protecting our brothers and sisters, neighbors, cousins, fathers, mothers, workers, leaders, and job creators. If we truly care about the American Dream we must defend Americans and when we protect Dreamers we are doing just that. If we value our nation’s greatness we must chose to not punish people for wanting that greatness to be a part of their identity.

I am going to resolutely defend my fellow Americans which is exactly why I am a firm defender of DACA. I believe in protecting the American Dream. I believe in protecting those who are Americans in every way but citizenship. The brave individuals who took a risk and became Dreamers are my countrymen and countrywomen. They are Americans who make a choice to make this country their home and I can’t imagine betraying them the way that some like Trump have reportedly considered betraying them.

In the days to come I hope that I and the others who view this like I do can convince those that disagree that we are correct and that the moral thing to do here is to fight for DACA and for the Dreamers. Because it is. It’s not moral to kick people out of their homes. It’s not moral to throw out those who believe in this nation and who want it to accept them for who they are. It’s not moral to ask them to live in the shadows or risk being sent to a place they’ve never known or left out of fear.

Defend DACA. Defend Americans. Defend the American Dream. Fight for those who’ve known no other home. For those who were brought here by their parents. For those who fled in terror rather than die in their home countries. Protect people whose greatest crime is coming here without documentation.