Mediaboss Marketing

Kristopher Hooks, KXTV 1:53 PM. PDT April 28, 2017

WASHINGTON, DC - President Donald Trump holds a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the East Room of the White House April 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Photo: Chip Somodevilla, 2017 Getty Images)

During his campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump vowed to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program immediately. But Trump's tone has apparently shifted since taking over the White House.

Now, like his predecessor Barack Obama, President Donald Trump is saying his administration is focusing on deporting criminals and not families or people who dont pose a threat to public safety. In an interview with the Associated Press, Trump said that dreamers can rest easy.

What that means exactly is yet to be seen. But for the over 1.6 million DACA recipients, approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, resting easy isnt something that just happens.

ABC10s Michael Anthony Adams spoke with some local DACA recipients who told stories of both struggle and success. But, in order for us to understand how the country got here, we must know where we came from in terms of DACA and immigration.

Here is a recent timeline of immigration reform in America.

Obama on the Illinois version of the DREAM Act (legislation he sponsored as senator) at the Democratic Primary Debate in Jan. 2008:

Children who are brought here through no fault of their own are able to go to college because we actually want well educated kids in our country who are able to succeed and become part of this economy and part of the American dream.

Obama in 2008 on immigration reform policy in his first term, if elected:

The American people need us to put an end to the petty partisanship that passes for politics in Washington. And they need us to enact comprehensive immigration reform once and for all. We cant wait 20 years from now to do it, we cant wait 10 years now to do it, we need to do it before the end of my first president of the United States of America. And I will make it a top priority in my first year as president, not only because we have an obligation to get control who comes in and out of our country, not only because we need to crack down on employers who are abusing undocumented immigrants instead of hiring citizens, but because we have to finally bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows. It is time we did that.

Obama on Sept. 20, 2012 at the University of Miami Town Hall with Univision journalist Jorge Ramos on not fulfilling his immigration reform campaign promise:

Jorge Ramos:I want to emphasize "the first year." At the beginning of your governing, you had control of both chambers of Congress, and yet you did not introduce immigration reform. And before I continue, I want for you to acknowledge that you did not keep your promise.Obama: Well, let me first of all, Jorge, make a point that when we talked about immigration reform in the first year, thats before the economy was on the verge of collapse -- Lehman Brothers had collapsed, the stock market was collapsing. And so my first priority was making sure that we prevented us from going into a Great Depression.

He continued, And what I confess I did not expect -- and so Im happy to take responsibility for being naive here -- is that Republicans who had previously supported comprehensive immigration reform -- my opponent in 2008, who had been a champion of it and who attended these meetings -- suddenly would walk away. Thats what I did not anticipate.

Ramos pushed back on the issue: It was a promise, Mr. President. And I don't want to -- because this is very important, I dont want to get you off the explanation. You promised that. And a promise is a promise. And with all due respect, you didnt keep that promise.

Obama: We have to have cooperation from all these sources in order to get something done. And so I am happy to take responsibility for the fact that we didnt get it done, but I did not make a promise that I would get everything done, 100 percent, when I was elected as President.

What I promised was that I would work every single day as hard as I can to make sure that everybody in this country, regardless of who they are, what they look like, where they come from, that they would have a fair shot at the American Dream. And I have -- that promise Ive kept.

On June 15, 2012 the Obama administration introduced DACA program:

Through Department of Homeland Security, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program suspends deportation for two years for people who came to the country illegally before they turned 16 years old, were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012, or lived in the country continuously for 5 years.

Obama on Nov. 20, 2014 during his Immigration reform speech:

Obama introduced DAPA, or Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, a deferred-deportation and work-authorization policy for immigrants whose children are citizens, lawful permanent residents, or had been living in the country since Jan. 1, 2010.

During his speech introducing the unilateral executive action, Obama said:

Today, our immigration system is broken, and everybody knows it. Families who enter our country the right way and play by the rules watch others flout the rules. all of us take offense take offense of anyone who reaps the rewards of living in America without taking on the responsibilities of living in America. When I took office, I committed to fixing this broken immigration system, and i began by doing what I could to secure our borders.

Lets be honest, tracking down, rounding up and deporting millions of people isnt realistic. Anyone who suggests otherwise isnt being straight with you.

On Dec. 3, 2014, 26 states, led by Texas, filed a suit to block the DAPA action

Texas and other states brought forth the suit in the U.S. District Court in Texas, saying that the DAPA Executive Order, which bypassed the GOP-led Congress, violated the Administrative Procedure Act notice-and-comment requirements for new federal agency rules.

On Feb. 16, 2015, a Texas judge blocked the enforcement of the Obama order

U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville, Texas issues an injunction to block enforcement of the DAPA program nationwide. Hanen said the Obama administration failed to offer notice and seek comment under the APA. The Obama Administration appealed the ruling, countering that the program came from Homeland Security discretion on deportation priorities.

On Nov. 9, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the ruling by Judge Hanen.

On Jan. 19, 2016, the Supreme Court agreed to the case.

On Feb. 13, 2016, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died.

Before Justice Antonin Scalias death, the Supreme Court sat 5 conservative judges and 4 liberal judges. After Scalias death, the bench was split 4-4, leaving a possibility for deadlock decision.

On June 23, 2016, the Supreme Court split its vote, signaling defeat for the Obama Administration

Two months after hearing oral arguments from both sides in the United States v. Texas case, the Supreme Court is split 4-4, leaving in place the 5th Circuits ruling to block Obamas executive action.

2017 KXTV-TV

Go here to see the original:
Dreaming in America: A recent timeline of immigration reform - ABC10