The most consequential decision President Donald Trump made on immigration in his first year in office surprisingly wasn’t about the wall. It was his decision to announce, on September 5, 2017, that his administration would be ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. This program has protected nearly 800,000 young unauthorized immigrants from deportation and allowed them to work legally in the United States since 2012.

The Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals is a federal government program created in 2012 under former president, Barack Obama,  which allowed people brought to the US illegally as children the temporary right to live, study, and work in America. These teenagers, commonly known as DREAMERS become eligible for opportunities such as scholarships, driving licenses’, and work permits. The only requirement is that applicants must have arrived to the United States before 2007 and that they must not have any criminal history. Mexico is by far the leading country of origin for DACA recipients with El Salvador, Guatemala, and central american countries following.

Senior, Stephanie Reyes, who is an immigrant from El Salvador believes that the program is “necessary” and that it should be “renewed because all [immigrants] do is help the country, in hopes of going to college, and trying to get a good job.” Having been here her whole life “America has become {her} home.” Similarly, Sophomore, Kaitlyn Kim agrees that “America is all they know”.

Currently it has been decided that those currently covered will start to lose their protection and work permits on March 6, 2018. So far, the administration is giving Congress six months to come up with a new solution before the federal government officially stops renewing permits for current DACA recipients. Spanish teacher, Mr. Willoughby, strongly believes that “people’s lives should not be made a political toy.” Since many may face deportation, he says that ending DACA will only be “breaking families and causing anxiety and unrest in the life of innocent people.”

Unofficially the program will end on March 5, 2018. The roughly 800,000 people who are currently protected under the program won’t see their status change immediately, but could be vulnerable to deportation if Congress does not pass a law by March granting them protection. The lives of many people are in the hands of our president.