When Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on September 5 that the Trump administration would be terminating DACA, Trump and members of his \u00a0governing gang once again demonstrated their \u00a0propensity for spreading fear and confusion among the most vulnerable in the American population.<\/p>\n

What did the Justice Department\u2019s announcement mean in practical terms? During the Obama era, DACA status was granted for two years at a time and was renewable. Now, if Trump\u2019s order stands, new applications for DACA will no longer be considered. Only those recipients with a permit set to expire before March 5, 2018, will be granted the opportunity to apply for a two-year renewal if they apply by October 5\u2014with their status in limbo following that one-time renewal. DACA authorizations will be recognized until expiration at the end of their two-year period with the last authorization ending on March 5, 2020.<\/p>\n

I ask you to ponder: Who in America right now is more vulnerable than the 800,000 Dreamers who have known no other lives than the ones they\u2019ve lived in cities, towns, villages, and rural areas across America and whose future in the only country they\u2019ve ever called home is now in doubt?<\/p>\n

The outlook for the Dreamers is dim. They\u2019re caught in a cycle of uncertainty. Can they stay in their homes? Can they apply for loans? Can they apply and receive work permits? Can they go to college? Will they be allowed to thrive or will they be deported to countries they\u2019ve never known and to places where they have no family, no friends, no connections? In the days following this cruel and capricious announcement, how do Trump, Sessions, and their \u00a0acolytes imagine that the 800,000\u2014who, after all, are our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers and employees, our fellow students, or our productive business women and men\u2014plan for school, for work, for their families?<\/p>\n

Imagine for a moment that the cities of Richmond, Virginia, or Hartford, Connecticut, or Charlotte, North Carolina, were emptied of their entire populations. Their inhabitants deported to parts unknown. That\u2019s the magnitude of the population that Trump has targeted.<\/p>\n

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