--- title: DACA: Jeff Sessions Announces End to Undocumented Program description: The Trump Administration has decided to phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. canonical: https://time.com/4927227/daca-undocumented-dreamers-jeff-sessions/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-05T15:20:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:17:04.266Z article:section: Politics og:title: Attorney General Jeff Sessions Says DACA Program Will Be Phased Out og:description: He said the program was not legally justifiable. og:url: https://time.com/4927227/daca-undocumented-dreamers-jeff-sessions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf678b74895501af/6988d8900b72e377966eeef2/gettyimages-826413430.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Department of Justice and the National Insider Threat Task Force og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Attorney General Jeff Sessions Says DACA Program Will Be Phased Out twitter:description: He said the program was not legally justifiable. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf678b74895501af/6988d8900b72e377966eeef2/gettyimages-826413430.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Attorney General Jeff Sessions Says DACA Program Will Be Phased Out > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=9c00547f-4203-4b44-a132-979ca54828d4&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 5, 2017 3:20 PM UTC  Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces that the National Insider Threat Task Force will be increasing its efforts to combat the leaking of classified material threatening national security in Washington, USA on August 4, 2017. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces that the National Insider Threat Task Force will be increasing its efforts to combat the leaking of classified material threatening national security in Washington, USA on August 4, 2017. Anadolu Agency—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 5, 2017 3:20 PM UTC The Trump Administration has decided to [phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals](http://time.com/4926278/trump-daca-dreamers-immigration/), or DACA, the Obama-era program that has shielded almost [800,000 immigrants](http://time.com/daca-dream-act-jose-antonio-vargas-time-cover-revisited/) from deportation for the past five years. “The program known as DACA that was effectuated under the Obama Administration is being rescinded,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday. At the Department of Justice, Sessions said the program [allowed immigrants to take jobs](http://time.com/4927060/jeff-sessions-daca-announcement/) that would have otherwise gone to Americans and contributed to a surge of young undocumented immigrants across the Southern U.S. border. Those who crossed the border during the 2014 surge would not have been eligible for DACA. The threat of legal action against DACA by Republican attorneys general from nine states pushed the Trump Administration to come to a decision on the Obama-era program. In a letter to Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke on Monday, Sessions concluded that the program was an “unconstitutional exercise of authority by the Executive Branch” and would not likely withstand the pending legal challenge because it’s similar to a program that would have protected parents that failed to withstand a court challenge. Sessions recommended that instead of leaving the fate of the program up to chance, the administration begin rolling back the program. Based on that guidance, the Secretary Duke issued a memo on Tuesday rescinding the 2012 memo that created the DACA program and outlining the ways in which the program will be phased out. In a statement, Duke said the decision to terminate DACA was not “taken lightly,” but given the options they were faced with, the administration chose the “least disruptive option.” Current recipients whose DACA is set to expire by March 5, 2018, will have until Oct. 5, 2017, to submit renewal applications to the federal government. Otherwise, those without DACA status and those who did not submit initial applications by Sept. 5, 2017, will not be eligible for the program. Applications that have already been submitted that expire beyond March 5, will also be adjudicated on a case-by-case basis, according to DHS officials. Pending requests submitted by the deadline will be considered under the same parameters as outlined under the now-rescinded June 2012 memo that established DACA. As DACA recipients’ benefits expire, so will protections keeping them from being deported by immigration authorities. Department of Homeland security officials said Tuesday expiration does not mean immigrants will automatically be considered criminal aliens, who are the highest enforcement priority, but at that point they will be at risk of deportation. Officials also said there has been no change to policy that determines what information DACA recipients provide to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is shared with immigration enforcement. The Trump Administration is calling on Congress to use the six-month delay to develop a policy that could protect so-called Dreamers, who have benefited from the program. “This is not a little matter, ending the previous administration’s disrespect for the legislative process is an important first step,” Sessions said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4927227/daca-undocumented-dreamers-jeff-sessions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4927227/daca-undocumented-dreamers-jeff-sessions/"},"headline":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions Says DACA Program Will Be Phased Out","datePublished":"2017-09-05T15:20:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:17:04.266Z","description":"The Trump Administration has decided to phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.","url":"https://time.com/4927227/daca-undocumented-dreamers-jeff-sessions/","keywords":["Immigration","White House","justice","Donald Trump","DACA","Jeff Sessions"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf678b74895501af/6988d8900b72e377966eeef2/gettyimages-826413430.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf678b74895501af/6988d8900b72e377966eeef2/gettyimages-826413430.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Department of Justice and the National Insider Threat Task Force","caption":"Department of Justice and the National Insider Threat Task Force","creditText":"Anadolu Agency—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4927227/daca-undocumented-dreamers-jeff-sessions/","name":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions Says DACA Program Will Be Phased Out"}}]}] ```