The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) represents a humane act taken by our former President, Barack H. Obama, to address a humanitarian problem faced by children who were brought to this country by their parents as undocumented immigrants. As children, these youth did not make the decision to come here, their parents did. They have successfully integrated into, and are acclimated with, the American society and culture. They have little or no connection with their country of origin. To now deport these youth to what, to them, is a foreign country is offensive to common notions of fairness.
The Attorney General for twenty different states have taken a position in support of DACA, agreeing to abide with notions of fairness. The Attorney General for ten other states, however, have threatened to sue the Federal government if it fails to rescind the executive order implementing the DACA program. Recently, there has been one defection from this group, that being Herbert Slatery, the Attorney General for the State of Tennessee, who, in explaining his change of position, stated:
“There is a human element to this, however, that is not lost on me and should not be ignored. Many of the DACA recipients, some of whose records I reviewed, have outstanding accomplishments and laudable ambitions, which if achieved, will be of great benefit and service to our country. They have an appreciation for the opportunities afforded them by our country. At this time, our office has decided not to challenge DACA in the litigation, because we believe there is a better approach.”
We, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC), ask our members and friends to join with various community organizations, supporting State Attorney Generals, and other governmental officials and legislators, to call on the President to reverse his action to rescind further implementation of DACA, and to hold true to the promise of the United States, and welcome these young immigrants, who have demonstrated to be more than worthy to call the U.S.A. as home.