With the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in limbo, advocates warn this may be the last holiday in Michigan for some 5-thousand recipients.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, gave people who came to the states as children access to temporary legal status - which allowed them to go to school and get jobs.
President Trump ended the DACA program in September but gave Congress until March 5th to decide what to come up with a more permanent plan for dreamers.
Victoria Crouse is with the League. She said for most DACA recipients the US is the only home they’ve ever known.
“About a quarter of all DACA recipients are parents themselves. We’re also talking about families with mixed legal statuses. Some are undocumented while some are US Citizens. It’s another layer of vulnerability for these families.”
Crouse said this season DACA family are in limbo.
“Right now the government has technically terminated the program. It’s in a six month phase out. From this point forward dreamers who are enrolled with DACA will not have an option to renew their status and thousands have already lost their status.”
Crouse said Democrats were expected to use the issue of funding the government as leverage to get something passed before the holidays - but the government has since been funded through mid-January..
“A lot of dreamers and their allies have been pushing for the passage of the Dream Act by the end of this year, by 2017. We’re hearing Democrats are pulling back because they aren’t willing to go as far as shutting down the government.”
Crouse said every day 122 people across the country lost their status - leaving them vulnerable to deportation.