Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Tuesday, September 5th, that the Trump Administration would be putting an end to the program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on March 5, 2018 if Congress does not come up with a better solution in time.

DACA is a program that was set up by the Obama Administration, which allowed for undocumented children who came over to the United States illegally to stay in the country and be invulnerable to deportation.

If Congress chooses to end DACA, over 800,000 immigrants that were covered by the program will be susceptible to deportation- forcing many to go back to countries that some may not even remember.

Trump’s administration has decided to go about ending DACA and that’s because it was deemed unconstitutional, President Obama made the executive order when he did not have the authority to do so. When President Barack Obama decided to announce the executive order in June of 2012, it was because Congress had spent many years debating and still had not yet passed the Development, Relief, and Education for Minors Act. The DREAM act would have granted permanent resident status to immigrants after completing certain requirements, but the bill had not passed since it was first introduced by Senators Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch in August of 2001. So when Obama passed the program, they believe he did not have the authority to do so.

76 percent of DREAMers are hispanic and there more than 17,000 DREAMers in Washington State alone, and because of that it’s not surprising that Washington’s Democratic Congressional Delegates and state officials are fighting to keep our state’s immigrants safe from discriminatory decisions made by the federal government.

Washington State Attorney and Blanchet Graduate Bob Ferguson announced on September 6th that Washington will join other states in fighting against Congress’ decision over ending DACA.

“I try to think what are the right words,” said Ferguson. “For how outrageous this is.”

Because of this, The Miter Staff has decided that we will stand in solidarity with the DREAMers of Washington State. We acknowledge why the Trump Administration wants to potentially end the program but as members of the Blanchet community, we understand that as people it is our duty to combat prejudicial decisions made by the federal government.

We call on the Blanchet community to show empathy for DREAMers and any families that will be potentially affected by Congress’ decision. It is also important not only to come together during this upsetting time and appreciate those around us, but also to fight for what we believe is right.