Administration and Congress after the DREAM Act of 2011 failed;
and
WHEREAS, DACA allowed the Department of Homeland Security to
exercise prosecutorial discretion on immigration cases regarding
the deportation of individuals who were brought to the United
States illegally as children; and
WHEREAS, The criteria for the individuals, known as
"Dreamers," to qualify for DACA was similar to the DREAM Act and
included being an immigrant who, in 2012, was between 16 and 30
years of age, came to the United States as a child, had no
criminal record and had lived continuously in the country for at
least the past five years; and
WHEREAS, If Dreamers met the criteria under DACA, applied for
deferred action and underwent a background check and
fingerprinting, then a two-year authorization was granted during
which the Department of Homeland Security would exercise its
prosecutorial discretion and not deport them; and
WHEREAS, Unlike the DREAM Act, DACA did not confer legal
status to any immigrant, because only Congress, through its
legislative authority, can constitutionally do so; and
WHEREAS, Since DACA has been implemented, almost 800,000
individuals have applied and been approved for deferred action,
including nearly 6,000 Pennsylvanians; and
WHEREAS, More than three-quarters of DACA applicants are from
Mexico, with the remaining from El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Peru, Brazil, South Korea and the Philippines; and
WHEREAS, On September 5, 2017, The Trump Administration
announced the end of the DACA program by March 5, 2018, and
called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform; and
WHEREAS, Ending DACA and deporting Dreamers, while within
20170HR0491PN2395 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30