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Hundreds of people have been taking part in a rally outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York to protest the U.S. president's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, program.
The protesters carried banners that read "No one is illegal" and "Immigrants welcome" and chanted "Deport Donald Trump" and "No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here."
Many said they had personally benefited from the program.
Susan Puma, 26, told Buzzfeed, "I'm very American but I'm very proud of my roots....if I'm deported, my identity is taken away from me."
Puma emigrated illegally with her family from Ecuador when she was 5 years old. She now works as a finance associate for a tech company.
RT Rhonda_Elnaggar: DACA protests underway in New York City https://t.co/ZIzsdSAp1C
— Social Life N Sydney (@SocialNSydney) September 9, 2017
The country has seen a number of protests led by immigrant rights groups since Trump announced his plan to scrap the program.
Thousands of people demonstrated in New York on Tuesday following the announcement.
They blocked traffic and staged a sit-in on the pavement at the "Somos 11 Millones" (We are 11 million) rally demanding Trump reverse his decision.
34 people were arrested.
The protesters also called for Congress to pass the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, that provides a legal path to citizenship for those currently enrolled in the DACA program.
A New York City-based protester who came from Mexico when she was 4 years old, told WCBS 880, NYC-based radio station, "I don’t consider Mexico my home," she said. "Home is here in New York." She is the only member of her family protected by DACA.
Protesters snarl traffic at 5th and 56th...a dozen arrests #DACA rescind. #1010wins pic.twitter.com/IiNipVdsAD
— Al Jones (@aljoneswins) September 5, 2017
The Obama administration passed the program as an executive order in 2012. Under DACA, nearly 800,000 immigrant youths, also called the “Dreamers”, brought to the U.S. by their undocumented parents, gained protection by enrolling in the system enabling them to attend school as well as receive and renew work permits every two years.
The Trump administration has pressed to phase out the program by allowing the current permits to expire and issue new permit requests that have already been submitted on a case-by-case basis. The program is expected to be stalled for six months to allow Congress time to weigh in to address the status of the law.
The University of California is suing the Trump administration over the repeal of the DACA program, saying it unconstitutionally violates their rights on “nothing more than unreasoned executive whim.”
The lawsuit was filed on Friday and is the first legal effort by a university to block the decision.
According to a CNN analysis of the Department of Homeland Security,DHS, data, for the two years following the six-month delay in the termination of the program, as many as 983 undocumented people currently covered under DACA would lose their protected status every day.
That means, on an average, nearly 30,000 people a month, would lose their legal status guaranteed by the program.
The University of California, has almost 4,000 undocumented students, a substantial number of whom are registered under the DACA program.
Some teachers, researchers, and health care providers are also recipients.
The institution's president, Janet Napolitano, who was secretary of DHS from 2009 to 2013, created the DACA program in 2012.
“Neither I, nor the University of California, take the step of suing the federal government lightly, especially not the very agency that I led,” Napolitano said in a statement. “It is imperative, however, that we stand up for these vital members of the UC community. They represent the best of who we are — hard working, resilient and motivated high achievers."
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