Why Texas Needs Donald Trump to Make the Dreamer Program Permanent

We're glad to see President Donald Trump give a reprieve — even if it is temporary — to hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants who were brought to this country as small children.For months, 800,000 of these so-called Dreamers have lived with uncertainty that the president would make good on his pledge to "immediately terminate" the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides them protection to work and go to school in the U.S.On the campaign trail, Trump called the program an "illegal executive amnesty" and promised to end it immediately. He's smart to change course, allowing the Dreamers to stay and renew their permits every two years — at least for now. The Trump administration stressed that this decision is temporary, that the president has still not decided the long-term fate of the program, put in place by President Barack Obama in 2012. Here's why Trump should make this reprieve permanent: Deporting the Dreamers is unworkable and not in the best interest of this country. It punishes achievers, many of whom didn't even know they were here illegally. Take DACA recipient Karla Perez, 24, who along with other Texas Dreamers was a 2015 finalist for Texan of the Year. She was just 2 when her parents brought her to Texas from Mexico City. She graduated from high school here. She's now pursuing a law degree at the University of Houston and is one of the bright young civil rights leaders in this state.   Continue reading...