DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was canceled on September 5, 2017 by the Trump administration. This was a game changer for people who benefited from DACA, the Dreamers. Congress must take action to either bring back DACA or make a permanent protection for young people who were DACA recipients.

DACA was an immigration policy affecting people who came to the United States as minors, and had either entered or stayed in the country illegally. It allowed them to get a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation, and be eligible for a work permit. This policy helped these young people, who, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website, “came to the United States before reaching their 16th birthday.” Also, Dreamers were able to request DACA if they “were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012.”

Dreamers who fit this description, and who filed the proper paperwork could avoid deportation and go to school, college, work, and get health insurance, often through their employer.

When President Barack Obama announced the DACA policy in 2012, people were excited, as was the President. In his announcement, the New York Times reports that Obama stated, “They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper.” He added that DACA would “lift the shadow of deportation from these young people,” and make immigration policy “more fair, more efficient and more just.”

The truth is, President Barack Obama created DACA because he really did care about immigrants, and he helped them make a plan to avoid deportation and contribute to the nation out in the open. However, President Donald Trump does not seem to care about Dreamers, despite some vague references to not having anything to worry about.

Now that the policy is gone, people are scared, and the nation needs to respond to end this fear. Dreamers should have permanent residency status so that they are protected from deportation, can live here permanently, and should be provided a path to citizenship.