On the fifth anniversary of one of former President Obama’s signature immigration orders, the Trump administration ended the deferred deportation of undocumented parents of children who are American citizens or legal residents, McClatchy Newspapers reports. The program, which could have affected as many as four million people, never went into effect because an appeals court had halted it. Still, the Department of Homeland Security decision signals that President Trump plans to go through with at least some of the immigration proposals that powered his 2016 campaign.
Yesterday’s decision does not affect another, related Obama-era memorandum that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)program, which applies to children who were brought to the U.S. illegally. During the campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would end the deferred deportation policy, calling it “amnesty.” The White House continues to study DACA. “DACA is a very, very difficult subject for me,” Trump said in February. “You have these incredible kids, in many cases not in all cases. In some of the cases they’re having DACA and they’re gang members and they’re drug dealers too. But you have some absolutely incredible kids…they were brought here in such a way, it’s a very, very tough subject.” The program for the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) would have allowed parents in the U.S. illegally with children who are citizens or legal residents to stay with a three-year renewable work permit if they had been in the U.S. since January 2010.