"I hope people will see the economic impact if DACA is revoked," says University of Notre Dame junior Gargi Purohit, who was brought by relatives to the United States from her native India as a young child. Tribune Photo/SANTIAGO FLORES
SOUTH BEND — Gargi Purohit was a third-grader when relatives brought her to the United States from her native India.
She grew up in this country and is now a junior economics major at the University of Notre Dame.
Because she obtained permission through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, otherwise known as DACA, she currently has temporary legal status to live and work in the U.S.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the government will stop granting protections from deportation under DACA. It's an administrative program instituted by President Barack Obama in 2012. Without the program, those individuals are expected to lose — and be unable to renew — their authorizations to work here.
"I knew when Trump got elected that this would eventually happen," Purohit said.
Sessions said there will be an unspecified "wind down period," giving Congress some time to come up with a potential replacement for the program.
"I hope people will see the economic impact if DACA is revoked," said Purohit, who works two part-time jobs.
She is hopeful that Americans will contact members of Congress, and urge passage of legislation to allow so-called "dreamers" like herself permanent legal status.
The goal is to "get them to take action and let them know we will not be silent," she said.
Another Notre Dame student, age 21, said she was devastated when she watched Sessions' announcement. She and some others with DACA status interviewed for this article spoke on the condition that their names not be published.
Copyright © 2024, South Bend Tribune