Young Undocumented Immigrants Face Uncertain Future Under President Trump

By Chip Mitchell
Undocumented immigrants wait to fill out applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on Aug. 15, 2012, at Chicago’s Navy Pier. Legal experts say the Trump administration can use that data for immigration enforcement.
Undocumented immigrants wait to fill out applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on Aug. 15, 2012, at Chicago’s Navy Pier. Legal experts say the Trump administration can use that data for immigration enforcement. Sitthixay Ditthavong/Associated Press
Undocumented immigrants wait to fill out applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on Aug. 15, 2012, at Chicago’s Navy Pier. Legal experts say the Trump administration can use that data for immigration enforcement.
Undocumented immigrants wait to fill out applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on Aug. 15, 2012, at Chicago’s Navy Pier. Legal experts say the Trump administration can use that data for immigration enforcement. Sitthixay Ditthavong/Associated Press

Young Undocumented Immigrants Face Uncertain Future Under President Trump

By Chip Mitchell
WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Chicago-area immigrants are bracing for President-elect Donald Trump to keep his campaign promises.

Toward the top of their list of concerns is how Trump will handle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which is a four-year-old policy enacted by President Barack Obama that provides work papers to young immigrants and protects them from deportation. About 800,000 people have signed up for the program.

DACA is not a law, but a policy memo from former homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano. That means Trump could simply rescind the program after he is sworn into office. If that happens, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights says there will be strong resistance. WBEZ’s Chip Mitchell reports.