WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has yet to decide what to do with the DACA amnesty program President Trump pledged to terminate.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Monday that there is an ongoing review regarding the status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. President Barack Obama started the program in 2012, and it gives illegal immigrants that arrived as minors protection from deportation. The program doesn’t give the illegal immigrants legal status, but does give them work permits.
Trump said he would “immediately terminate” both of Obama’s amnesties on the campaign trail. He ended Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, a program designed to protect illegal immigrant parents of U.S. citizens, though its implementation was already blocked by a court decision.
DACA continues to accept applications and renewals. Recent statistics released by the government show that an estimated 98,000 illegal immigrants have received amnesty from the program in Trump’s first few months.
This has led to criticism from immigration hawks. Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said in a radio interview last week that Trump is following immigration policies similar to that of the Obama administration.
Spicer said Monday that the decision on DACA is part of an entire review of immigration policy that also includes visa programs.