The failure of Senate Democrats to include amnesty for Delayed Action on Childhood Admissions (DACA) recipients will caust grief in many local households, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Local immigration attorney Lance Curtright says the two year permission to remain in the U.S. is winding down for several local DACA recipients, so called 'Dreamers,' after a 2002 proposal called the 'Dream Act.'
"There are a lot of false promises, and a lot of people who have DACA protections are rightly concerned that this is just another delay," he said.
Democrats had demanded that a resolution of the DACA issue be past of any agreement to end the government shutdown, but they blinked after Republicns promised to discuss the issue at a future date.
Curtright says there is not a lot of time left.
"The fear is that once the DACA program expires, they could risk deportation to countries that are as foreign to them as they are to you and me," he said.
Supporters of DACA say these are individuals who came to the U.S. with their illegal immigrant parents as small children. They have grown up in the U.S., speak English as their first language, have been educated in U.S. public schools, and, in order to maintain their DACA protections, have had to stay in school or been employed, so they are among the most law abiding and productive of U.S. citizens.
One place DACA recipients will get support is at UTSA, which on Monday opened its new Dreamers Center to provide support to DACA recipients.
“Given recent indications that DACA may not be resuscitated by Congress, it’s imperative we escalate the support we offer our Dreamers,” said President Taylor Eighmy. “We must do everything we can to ensure they have the right resources and information in the months to come.”
The Dreamers Center was supposed to open in February, but it was moved up to help individuals who are losing DACA protections.
Eighmy says the center will ' assist undocumented UTSA students with services ranging from legal to financial to emotional."
WOAI PHOTO