On Tuesday morning, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump Administration was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, claiming that the program was full of ‘illegal aliens who were taking jobs away from citizens’ and ‘contributing to lawlessness and threatening the country surpassed legal heritage.’ The DACA program is said to be phased out completely within the next six months.

According to United We Dream, the DACA Program is an immigration policy that was founded by the Obama Administration in 2012. DACA allows illegal immigrants who entered the country as a minor to receive a two year renewable period where they cannot be deported and are eligible for a work permit.

In September 2016, the Trump administration revoked the program but implementation was delayed by Congress for six months to come up with a solution for those previously insured and protected by DACA.

The requirements are simple, you have to be at least 15 years old, currently be enrolled in school or have/working towards a GED, you must have a clean criminal record, pass a background check and be without lawful immigration status.

Our main goal should be bringing one another up, not using legislature to push one another away in the face of adversity, especially those who were brought here by their parents.

Nearly 800,000 individuals have been covered by DACA and since its enactment five years ago, most have started families and are disappointed by the decision to end DACA. Most members of DACA and the families they’ve started here have never known a home other than the US.

Former President Barack Obama commented on Tuesday after hearing Trump’s decision to disband DACA.

“To target these young people is wrong ― because they have done nothing wrong,” Obama said during an interview. “It is self-defeating because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love and it is cruel. This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people ― and who we want to be.”

By ending DACA and pushing these innocent immigrants away from America, we not only make ourselves look bad, we are ripping apart families and taking away the academic opportunities that these young people have had while living in the United States.

Trump stated that ending the program slowly would be much better than letting the courts end it immediately, but made sure he emphasized his “America First” agenda.

While I wholeheartedly agree that we should take care of our own who are struggling and falling below the poverty line, I don’t agree that we should turn a cold shoulder to those who don’t have hope for a better life.

America has always been painted as a safe haven and place for equality and certain freedoms that individuals may not have in their home country.

Our main goal should be bringing one another up, not using legislature to push one another away in the face of adversity.

Trump and his administration made it clear that they’re leaving the fate of DACA in the hands of Congress, who already have several pending bills, both on Democratic and Republican sides, that are being looked at more carefully since Trump’s announcement. It’s time to start embracing an all inclusive American Dream again; the ideals that freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to everyone, not just Americans.