President Trump Expected To End DACA Program; AG Sessions To Announce Decision Tuesday
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The Trump administration is expected to announce Tuesday that it will end protections for young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children. But that will come after a six-month delay.
People familiar with the plans said the delay in the formal dismantling of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program would be intended to give Congress time to decide whether it wants to address the status of the affected young immigrants.
But it was not immediately clear how the six-month delay would work in practice and what would happen to people who currently have work permits under the program, or whose permits expire during the six-month stretch.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says Trump's likely decision to end the program is dangerous and that Trump could ruin the lives of hundreds of thousands people those who "consider themselves patriotic and proud Americans that just want to contribute to our society."
There are currently 30,000 immigrants benefiting from DACA in New York City, WCBS 880's Mike Smeltz reported.
"And every single one of them is waiting for an announcement that could dash their hopes and dreams," de Blasio said.
The mayor said DACA advocates will fight President Trump in court and in Congress.
"We are going to go to the courts to fight him, to stop him from taking away from the dreamers-- their hopes. We're going to go to Congress and fight for the DREAM Act," de Blasio said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the state will sue if the president ends the program.
"If he moves forward with this cruel action, New York State will sue to protect the 'dreamers' and the state's sovereign interest in the fair and equal application of the law," Cuomo said in a statement. "We should not and cannot sit on the sidelines and watch the lives of these young people ruined. We have both a legal and moral obligation to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed without discrimination or animus."
"President Trump's decision to end the DACA program would be cruel, gratuitous, and devastating to tens of thousands of New Yorkers," Schneiderman said. "Dreamers are Americans in every way. They played by the rules. They pay their taxes. And they've earned the right to stay in the only home they have ever known. More than 40,000 New Yorkers are protected under DACA. They pay more than $140 million in state and local taxes. They are vital members of our community."
New Yorkers raised their voices last week and will return to the streets on Tuesday to protest the president's plan.
"It meant everything to me and now five years later I think I'm back in that place, where my life is back in limbo," DACA enrollee Angie Kim said.
The Obama-era program protected nearly 800,000 immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation.
Many of the people who benefit from the program attend school or work. Permits to stay are renewable every two years.
It's believed Trump will end the program but give Congress six months to fix it in the face of legal challenges.
Many experts believe DACA is vulnerable to a court challenge. Earlier this summer, ten state attorney generals opposed to DACA told the White House they would press forward with legal action if he didn't act to end the program by September 5th.
Critics such as House Speaker Paul Ryan view DACA as illegal executive overreach by then-President Obama. But Ryan and many other Republicans want Congress to pass legislation fixing the program without deporting any of those it protects.
CBS2's Tony Aiello reports that in essence, the president will challenge Congress to take action.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will hold a briefing Tuesday morning to address the president's decision.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
