In September of 2017, President Trump announced plans to rescind the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The policy, which was introduced by the Obama administration in June of 2012, allowed for minor children of illegal immigrants to be granted a two-year period of deferment from deportation, and be allowed to obtain a work permit.

In order to be eligible for DACA, one must have a high school diploma or GED, be honorably discharged from the armed forces, and have no felony or serious misdemeanor convictions, and pose no threat to national security.   

While it is true that these requirements are rigorous, DACA participants are already committing a felony by being in the United States illegally, and allowing them to stay in the country is allowing them to escape conviction.

According to Pew Research Center, there are approximately 800,000 illegal immigrants that participate in DACA. Now, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, there are 4,442,600 people all around the world waiting for a legal immigrant visa.

That’s right. While almost 4.5 million people are waiting to legally immigrate to the United States, nearly 1 million illegal immigrants are are allowed to avoid deportation, simply because they came here as children.

The wait list for a visa can be anywhere from 19 months to 33 years.  With that wait time, priority should be given to those that actually follow the law, not those who benefit from breaking it.  

DACA itself is nothing but a constitutional overstep of Executive power. In creating this program, President Obama ignored the millions waiting to legally immigrate, and showed the American people where his priorities stood.

When the United States allows nearly one million people to illegally remain in the country, what message does that send to those waiting for legal immigration?

Immigrating to this country is a privilege, not a right. While the United States is a country built by immigrants, it’s a country of laws, and those laws need to be followed. If DACA participants are to  illegally live in this country, they should be just as susceptible to the laws they have broken, just as any American would as well. As Ronald Reagan once said,  “A nation without borders is not a nation.”