Dreams Deferred - Trump Ends Protection of Young Immigrants

That glittering beacon of democracy, of liberty, of opportunity and of the spirit of America, which has shone over the United States(US) for more than two centuries as a standard for hope to all the world's peoples, was dimmed yesterday for some 800,000 young immigrants, when the Trump administration announced the discontinuance of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals(DACA), a Barack Obama humanitarian program that shielded from deportation the children of undocumented immigrants brought to the US by their parents.

DACA has embodied the same spirit and the same hope of America that the nation offered to those who arrived on the Mayflower, to those fleeing other religious persecutions, wars, famines and economic deprivations in their countries of birth.

DACA was decent. It was humanitarian. It was sensible. It was kind. It was a good cause. Yet, the Trump administration, which is made up of the sons and the daughters of former immigrants, has now turned its back upon a new generation of "Dreamers". 

Trump's action to end DACA subtracts from the ethos of America. It cheapens the US and it further isolates the Trump administration from the humanitarian hospitality of Canada and the European Union(EU). 

Although the US Congress has a chance to remedy the immigration status of "Dreamers", the Trump administration has clearly faltered in the humanitarian arena. Thus, until a change comes to the White House, the US will continue to lose its elite status on the international stage as well as to lose influence over the determination and outcome of global affairs.