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What is Daca and who are the Dreamers?

Obama has been famously silent about his successor, but even he felt "morally compelled" to speak out against it.
Trump says he has "great love" for Daca children
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While Australians slept, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Trump administration plans to scrap the program that protects people who were brought into the US illegally when they were children.

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Many of those had lived almost their entire lives in America, some speaking no other language than English, and now the 787,580 people who had been granted temporary legal immigration status have been thrown into a state of mayhem and anxiety โ€“ but who are they and how did this happen?

WATCH: Obama lovingly talks about his daughters.

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What is Daca?

The Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (Daca) is a federal government program created under Barack Obama in 2012 which allowed those brought illegally to the US as children to continue living, studying and working in America.

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There was a stringent vetting process, ensuring those granted Daca had no criminal history or threat to national security, and they must either be a student or have completed school or military service. Those who passed vetting had their deportation deferred by two years, with a chance to renew, and were now eligible for basics like drivers licenses, college enrolment and work permits.

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Who are the Dreamers?

Dreamers are the nearly 800,000 young people who had been granted approval under the scheme. They had to have been younger than 31 on 15 June 2012, the launch of the program, as well as lacking legal immigration status โ€“ โ€œundocumentedโ€. They needed to be younger than 16 when they came to the US, which is why many are saying Trumpโ€™s decision is unfairly affecting those who had no choice in their being in the US at all.

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Why are they called dreamers?

The dreamer moniker came from Obamaโ€™s initial Act, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (Dream) Act, which would have offered those who arrived illegally as children permanent residency as opposed to the two year deferment offered by Daca. Daca was passed as a compromise due to similar bipartisan Acts repeatedly failing to pass since 2001.

How have people reacted to the announcement?

In Obamaโ€™s final presidential press availability, he said Trump ending Daca would be one of the few issues we would feel โ€œmorally compelledโ€ to speak out against.

In a statement on facebook, the former POTUS argued Daca was not about the โ€œcontroversial topicโ€ of immigration.

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โ€œThis is about young people who grew up in America โ€“ kids who study in our schools, young adults who are starting careers, patriots who pledge allegiance to our flag.โ€

He added: โ€œOur immigration enforcement agencies have limited resources, and it makes sense to focus those resources on those who come illegally to this country to do us harm. Deportations of criminals went up. Some 800,000 young people stepped forward, met rigorous requirements, and went through background checks. And America grew stronger as a result.โ€

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Others have supported Trumpโ€™s decision, claiming that it doesnโ€™t matter that the Dreamers had no choice or agency in their immigration โ€“ theyโ€™re still illegal.

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