[title]
On Tuesday morning, Attorney General Jeff Sessions formally announced that the Trump Administration is rescinding DACA, a program put in place by the Obama Administration that protected nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children from deportation. The move immediately stops the processing of any new applications for the program and gives Congress until March 5, 2018, to create a replacement.
Like many of the watershed decisions made by Trump this year, New Yorkers have responded to this one with protests at the president's namesake building. Immediately following Sessions’ announcement, protesters gathered at Trump Tower to speak up in support of the hundreds of thousands who have relied on DACA to protect their immigration status. The protest is expected to continue into the evening.
On top of that, a rally for DACA is planned for 5:30pm on Tuesday afternoon at Foley Square, marching to the Brooklyn Bridge. Other protests and community forums are expected to be held throughout the city on Tuesday and into the rest of the week.
Following the announcement, both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo issued strong statements against the president's decision. De Blasio announced that his office would deploy legal service funding across all five boroughs to help those affected by DACA's rescission and said that the city is working with community groups to plan a “DACA Day of Action.” On Monday, Cuomo issued a joint statement with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman threatening to sue if the Trump Administration ended DACA.
According to the governor's office, there are more than 40,000 residents in New York State who have been protected from deportation under DACA. If Congress does not pass legislations that replaces the programs provisions in the next six months, all of those people could lose their legal immigration status by the end of 2021.