[JURIST] US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday announced [prepared remarks] the Trump administration’s plans to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) [official website] program, which gives undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children, known as Dreamers, protection from deportation. According to a White House press release [text], “The Trump Administration is taking responsible action to wind down DACA in an orderly and minimally disruptive manner.” No new undocumented immigrants may register under DACA, and the immigrants whose DACA documents are about to expire must renew by October 5, 2017. The administration said, “Under the change announced today, current DACA recipients generally will not be impacted until after March 5, 2018, six months from now. That period of time gives Congress the opportunity to consider appropriate legislative solutions.” Civil rights organizations have criticized Trump’s plan. The American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] director of immigration policy, Lorella Praeli, said [press release], “Today is a cruel day for Dreamers, our families, and all Americans.”

Crackdowns on immigration have been a controversial part of Trump’s presidency. Last month Trump pardoned [JURIST report] a former Arizona sheriff who had been found guilty of criminal contempt for his refusal to follow a court order in regards to racial profiling. Also in August Chicago sued [JURIST report] the Trump administration over sanctuary city funding. That same month rights groups sued [JURIST report] the State Department over diversity visa denials. Two days before Trump had announced [JURIST report] his support for a skill based immigration system.