WHAT WE HOPE CONGRESS DOES WITH DACA

President Trump recently gave a six-month extension to the DACA program which will hopefully convince Congress to pass legislation. The DACA program was an executive order by President Obama in 2012 which, by President Obama's own words, was unconstitutional (something the executive branch was not allowed to do) and therefore will not stand up to the current legal challenges by many states and will eventually be rescinded.

We hope that Congress will do the right thing, understanding that the overwhelming majority of Americans DOES NOT want to deport these 800,000 undocumented youth.

Now who/what is DACA?  They are individuals who are under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012,who entered the United States before turning 16, and have continually lived in this country since June 15, 2007. These individuals must also have a high school diploma or GED certification,honorably discharged from the military or still be in school. They cannot have a criminal record. The DACA order does not give legal status. The current average age of these youths today is over 20 years of age.

  Americans should hope and pray Congress does the following:
1. Give  permanent legal status for these 800,000 individuals by giving them a "yellow or purple" card which allows them to stay in the United States indefinitely without fear of deportation. This permanent legal status allows these individuals to only obtain benefits such as Social Security, disability, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, and welfare 10 years after obtaining a permit for legal status. Also, they are never able to vote unless they become citizens. If they have illegally registered to vote or have voted, the first offense could be a four year federal prison term and the second offense would be deportation.
2.  Continue the same standard as the DACA program for deportation. That is, they cannot have a criminal record and they must have a high school diploma or GED, honorably discharged from the military or still be in school.
3.  Allow these individuals a possible pathway to citizenship by one of the following methods.
They can do at least four years of military service and cannot be dishonorably discharged.
 They can do at least 10 years of public service such as being on the police force or working as a fireman or fire woman or other public services such as those determined by the Department of  Defense. These services can be working for 10 years in the FBI or CIA or other positions that involve danger and possible loss of life.
 After the completion of these years of public service, they can then apply for citizenship the same as a legal immigrant.
4.  After this legislation is passed, there can be no more permanent legal status for any other children of illegals in this country indefinitely unless legislated by Congress.State and local authorities cannot override federal law on this issue.
5.   This legislation will go into affect  only when a Wall at the southern border has been fully funded  and approved by the Department of Homeland Security.
6.   This legislation is accompanied by a more comprehensive piece of immigration legislation which deals with legal immigration and parameters (entry requirements) similar to those set by Senator Cotton.

 If the Democrats care about these individuals, they will allow the funding and building of the wall at the southern border in order to help keep illegal immigration at a minimum. Hopefully, the Democrats will prove their concern for these DACA individuals more than they care about getting votes from future illegal immigrants coming into this country.
There is a possible pathway to citizenship for these individuals and I believe that all parties should allow these individuals to remain legally in this country since they are here in this country by someone else's illegal actions. They should be rewarded with a pathway to citizenship if they do public service as described previously.
The conditions for remaining in this country are fair and I hope that Congress will approach this issue with a mature and compassionate attitude and not approach this issue by making unreasonable demands further dividing this country. Hopefully, they can think more about helping these individuals and future generations of Americans than their own self interests or their party's self interest.
Let's all pray that Congress can do the right thing this time.