As president Trump takes the highest seat of the United States, immigration is once again thrusted into the center of the political spotlight. Although no detail has emerged, president Trump will likely increase immigration enforcement through tripping the number of ICE agents and officers, who are responsible for enforcing US Immigration law. Although it is unclear how this can be accomplished in terms of budgetary needs, but with a GOP-controlled Congress, allocating resources to border security makes sense, and border security is GOP’s threshold before they would agree to discuss changes in immigration policy.
On the other hand, it is hopeful that DACA might survive, for now. Congress has introduced new bill to replace DACA, which was made under President Obama’s executive order. The new legislation signals GOP’s long held point of view that such changes in immigration law should come from Congress, and not by the President. By and large, the new legislation to replace DACA seems to contain very similar requirements and offer protection from deportation for those who were brought to the United States at a young age. We recommend that Dreamers (DACA recipients) continue to monitor the new legislation and lends support to its passage so that protection against deportation can continue until new legislation that affords a path to legal status can be designed by Congress. Hopefully this is a sign that the immigration standstill in Congress is breaking and discussion about providing legal status to Dreamers will move forward.
We welcome questions from Dreamers who would like to stay in touch and receive more information about their immigration options for the future.
CNN: Trump to order construction of border wall, boosting deportations. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwnIiOjjQ
JCS U.S. Immigration & Visa Law Office 