Young Immigrants Are Rushing to Renew Paperwork Before Trump Kicks Them Out
Over the past five years, Maggie Kawinski watched as her young clients' lives slowly came into focus. The New York immigration attorney has been working with undocumented people covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program protecting those brought to the US as children since Barack Obama started it in 2012. These protections have allowed many young immigrants to take part in major milestones of American life. Teenagers unable to apply for college now have degrees. Twenty-somethings no longer have to get paid under the table; often, they can actually drive to work.
But just as the shape of the future was gaining definition, Donald Trump took office. He immediately instituted travel bans. ICE enforcement suddenly seemed less predictable, and rumors and anecdotes fused to make it feel like unleashed agents might be everywhere. And last month, the administration announced DACA protections would end—and that everyone eligible needed to renew by this Thursday, October 5, if they wanted to keep the work permits that have propped up their lives for the past five years. If Congress doesn't pass its own version of DACA by next March, the program will die, putting its recipients at far greater risk of deportation.