As the expiration date for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals quickly approaches, it’s clear that an act needs to be decided upon to determine the fates of the thousands of DACA recipients who will be in legal limbo.
Sen. Orrin Hatch’s proposal for the Succeed Act appears to be a strict interpretation of DACA. He hopes to resolve the complex national issues over immigration by proposing “rigorous vetting requirements” for young immigrants to “earn the right to citizenship over a 15-year period.”
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Succeed Act reflects DACA’s requirements that applicants “came into the U.S. before their 16th birthday, are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a GED certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the U.S.” and “have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.”
The difference between these two acts is not the “rigorous vetting requirements,” because DACA already had those in place, but it’s the language used to describe the process to address the misinformed perceptions regarding immigration.
Alicia A. Ruiz, West Jordan