Days after revoking a programme that protects immigrants who arrived in the country as children from deportation, United States President Donald Trump on Thursday told its recipients that they have nothing to worry about, at least for the next six months.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, a policy framed during the administration of former US President Barack Obama, protects nearly 8,00,000 immigrants called “Dreamers” from deportation and allows them to work and study legally in the country. Repealing this will affect up to 7,000 Indian-Americans.
The Trump administration had said no new applicants will be accepted, but no current beneficiaries of the programme will be affected till March 5, 2018. The US Congress has been given six months to enact new protections for the immigrants through legislation.
Trump’s tweet came after his conversation with Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, The New York Times reported. Pelosi is believed to have asked him to promise Daca beneficiaries that the immigrants will not be deported during the six-month period.
A majority of the Dreamers come from Mexico and other parts of Latin America. More than 2,00,000 live in California and nearly 100,000 in Texas. As per the policy, applicants under the age of 30 could obtain temporary permits for work and study. They had to submit their personal information to the Department of Homeland Security and go through a background check for criminal records.
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