Md. DACA Recipient Responds To Trump: 'We're Here To Stay'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- President Donald Trump's latest announcement on protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children has caused more uncertainty for the nearly 1 million DACA recipients nationwide, including as many as 10,000 in Maryland.
The president has gone back and forth on the issue and he now says there's no deal on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA.
"I will continue to say I'm undocumented, unafraid and unapologetic. We're here to stay," Monica Camacho-Perez said.
She is one of the hundreds of Dreamers who call Baltimore home. Camacho-Perez, who was brought to the U.S. from Mexico as a child, says she doesn't know if she'll be forced to go back.
"I can only plan my future until May 16 of 2019, because that's when my work permit expires," she said.
Trump's tweets sent just before he landed in Maryland on Easter Sunday put Camacho-Perez and the nearly 1 million DACA recipients in flux.
DACA protects Dreamers like Camacho-Perez from deportation.
"We love this country. This is our country. This is the only place that we know as home," she said.
Later at the White House, the president blamed Democrats.
"The Democrats have really let them down, and that's a shame. And now people are taking advantage of DACA, and that's a shame and that should never have happened," he said.
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Trump tried to end the Obama-era legislation before, but federal courts blocked him.
However, a Maryland judge ruled for the president last month.
Supporters of Dreamers have rallied in the nation's capital.
Maryland's sole Republican in Congress, Andy Harris, told WJZ earlier this year that he wants stronger border security but does not want to deport Dreamers.
"I just don't understand where the rumor circulates that Republicans want to deport these 800,000 DACA individuals. There's been no Republican plan put forward that would include deportation," he said in January.
Camacho-Perez believes there's still hope for DACA.
"We're going to do everything that we can to keep it alive. We also have to remember we want a permanent solution, and we're not giving up," she said.
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