New Trump restrictions leave DACA hopefuls behind

Video Credit: Reuters - Politics
Published on July 31, 2020 - Duration: 02:19s

New Trump restrictions leave DACA hopefuls behind

Mariana Pineda is one of the DACA hopefuls who now find their immigration status in limbo after the Trump administration announced it would be rejecting any new applications for the program.

Gloria Tso reports.


New Trump restrictions leave DACA hopefuls behind

For 21-year-old Mariana Pineda, the future was looking bright.

But on Tuesday (July 28), the Trump administration threw a wrench in all of her Mariana's plans.

It said it would be rejecting any new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program - also known as DACA - while it's under review until likely after the November election.

Currently in her last semester of community college, her dream was to attend USC or San Francisco State, where she hoped to study international business.

DACA shields over half a million immigrants from deportation, and Mariana was all set to apply to become one of them.

"It's very frustrating because I was very hopeful.

You know, I'm always working towards my dreams and working on school.

My dream is to go study abroad.

So I was going to be transferring soon, next spring." DACA protects those living in the U.S. illegally after entering as children, a group otherwise called 'Dreamers.'

It offers them the chance to obtain a work permit -- and a reprieve from looming deportation.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made a tough stance against illegal and legal immigration a central part of his reelection campaign.

The latest move by his White House is threatening core tenets of the program, like cutting DACA renewals from two years - down to one.

That's even after the Supreme Court said in June the program should continue as is, though they left the door open for Trump to try again.

Immigration lawyer Alex Galvez calls Trump's decision a constitutional crisis.

"Remember, we live in a federalist democracy where the executive office needs to respect the decision of the judiciary.

And in this case, Donald Trump is finding another excuse to delay the inevitable." Mariana is just one of the many DACA hopefuls who are now caught in the crossfire.

While she remains hopeful that change will come soon, she admits worrying over her status is taking a personal toll.

"It's very hard because my mental health goes up and down because of it, you know?

When your future is uncertain, you don't know what's going to happen.

You're just working and working and working and working and just hoping for the best and nothing gets done.

They play with our feelings.

They tell us, yes, we're going to give you this but then they take it away from us.

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