Being a high schooler means a multitude of things: You are beginning the journey to adulthood, you are gaining new responsibilities, you are beginning to think of potential colleges, and for the lucky ones, you are given your first set of car keys. In 2018, the prospects for a new and exciting future could potentially be stripped from high school students and for many young adults. Under the Obama Administration, the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals, or DACA, was passed on June 15, 2012. The American Administration Council states that DACA is an exercise of “prosecutorial discretion”. This phrase means that immigrants who were under the age of 16 when brought to the United States have temporary relief from deportation. Although they have temporary relief, they are still not considered to be citizens of the United States.

The DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act in 2001 brought up a fact that no one could deny: These kids did not have a choice when they were brought to the US by their parents at a young age, so why should they have to face the same consequences as their parents? The debate on how to handle these children immigrants has been a long one. Permanently removing the DACA recipients could be harmful to them because this is the only life they have ever known. According to Homeland Security, Congress has not yet decided on what is going to happen with the DACA recipients when the benefits expire but the hope is that Congress will have figured out a way to help the children coming into the US and find a way to help the receipts receive a legal status in the United States.