Obama

Source: Win McNamee / Getty
The 13th anniversary of the DACA program is celebrated as it faces uncertainty under the Trump Administration.

On Sunday (June 15), the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program celebrated 13 years of existence after its creation during the administration of former President Barack Obama. It comes as the administration of President Donald Trump has endorsed numerous raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents nationwide, and has worked to end the program outright, doing so for six months in his first term. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Obama honored the day and the program, which was created to provide a pathway to aid the young children of immigrants to becoming citizens and to protect them from deportation.

“Thirteen years ago, my administration acted to protect young people who were American in every single way but one: on paper,” the former president began in the post. “DACA was an example of how we can be a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. And it’s an example worth remembering today, when families with similar backgrounds who just want to live, work, and support their communities, are being demonized and treated as enemies.” Obama concluded, “We can fix our broken immigration system while still recognizing our common humanity and treating each other with dignity and respect. In fact, it’s the only way we ever will.”

Obama was joined by a slew of other Democratic lawmakers voicing their own support for DACA on social media, and who called for the passage of the bipartisan H.R. 1589 bill, commonly referred to as the “American Dream and Promise Act”. The bill, if passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, would codify parts of DACA into federal law. The 5th Circuit Court ruled against DACA being continued in full in January, but allowed applications for renewal to continue.
The Trump Administration recently received a verdict in its favor from the Supreme Court, 7-2, to remove Temporary Protected Status from over 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela last month drawing ire from advocates. DACA and the issue of protecting young immigrants have taken center stage again within the past week, as protesters decrying the deportations and policies of ICE outside of a federal building in downtown Los Angeles were confronted by local police. President Donald Trump moved to send in 2,000 members of the National Guard, and subsequently 200 Marines without approval from California Governor Gavin Newsom or Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

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