--- title: Can Congress Save DACA? description: The onus is now on Congress to secure the fate of the nearly 800,000 young beneficiaries of DACA. canonical: https://time.com/4927812/daca-dreamers-congress/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-06T02:31:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:33:06.828Z article:section: Politics og:title: Can Congress Spare the Dreamers? og:description: It will require a rare display of bipartisan unity. og:url: https://time.com/4927812/daca-dreamers-congress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38e3c40a248704e9/6988dc887cdbac335dd59e34/gettyimages-843027470.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Senators Dick Durbin And Lindsay Graham Introduce Bipartisan DREAM Act og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Can Congress Spare the Dreamers? twitter:description: It will require a rare display of bipartisan unity. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38e3c40a248704e9/6988dc887cdbac335dd59e34/gettyimages-843027470.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Can Congress Spare the Dreamers? > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6b6cc639-6715-4f9c-a17c-d7ee22c2785b&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 10 Days That Define the Obama Presidency: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Announced [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Days That Define the Obama Presidency: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Announced](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/sMYtJAXN.m3u8) (1:37)  _Published 2017-01-13. As President Obama's two terms in office come to a close, TIME is taking a look back at the most pivotal moments of his presidency._ by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Sep 6, 2017 2:31 AM UTC As President Obama's two terms in office come to a close, TIME is taking a look back at the most pivotal moments of his presidency. by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Sep 6, 2017 2:31 AM UTC President Trump made clear on Tuesday that he’s put the [fate of the Dreamers](http://time.com/daca-dream-act-jose-antonio-vargas-time-cover-revisited/) in Congress’ hands. Shortly before Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially [announced](http://time.com/4927227/daca-undocumented-dreamers-jeff-sessions/) that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program would end in six months, Trump tweeted that solving the problem would be up to lawmakers. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/905038986883850240) In a subsequent [statement](http://time.com/4927495/donald-trump-statement-daca-rescind/?xid=homepage), Trump noted that “the legislative branch, not the executive branch, writes these laws,” and that his intention is not “to just cut DACA off, but rather provide a window of opportunity for Congress to finally act.” The question now is: Can Congress act in time? There are nearly 800,000 young immigrants who have [benefited from DACA](http://time.com/4927227/daca-undocumented-dreamers-jeff-sessions/?xid=homepage) since President Obama inaugurated the policy in 2012; if no viable replacement comes through, they face deportation. Lawmakers already face a packed schedule: They have just over 10 working days before the end of the month to keep the government funded and raise the debt ceiling. That’s not to mention tax reform, aid for Hurricane Harvey victims and routine housekeeping like reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Allowing Dreamers to avoid deportation has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, however. In a statement released Tuesday, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan dismissed Obama’s implementation of DACA as “a clear abuse of executive authority, an attempt to create law out of thin air,” but called for a “permanent legislative solution” that allows the young individuals who benefited from DACA to “still contribute as a valued part of this great country.” House Democrats echoed the call for action. “The DREAM Act is ready and would pass today if Republicans would allow a vote,” Drew Hammill, deputy chief of staff for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, told TIME. “Our focus is on trying to achieve a bipartisan outcome.” On the Senate side, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin held a joint press conference to promote their bill to give DACA beneficiaries and other immigrants permanent resident status and allow them to eventually earn U.S. citizenship, while Republican Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain have already spoken out against ending the DACA program. “This is a moment of great concern, great fear, and great anxiety,” Durbin said. “We are now in a countdown to [deportation](http://time.com/4566512/donald-trump-deportation-promise/). It is time for us in Congress to do the right thing.” Some version of the DREAM Act has existed in some form since 2001 but has never made it through Congress. Its critics claim it incentivizes greater levels of illegal immigration. The bill last came up for a vote in 2010, when it passed in the House but failed to earn the necessary 60 votes in the Senate. Graham alluded to that history — as well as Congress’ recent trouble passing a health care bill — at the press conference, speaking directly to Dreamers. “The only thing that stands between you and the certainty in your life is the Congress,” he said. “That cannot be that reassuring. The Congress is going to have to up its game.” ## Transcript [00:00] Over the next few months, eligible individuals who do [00:03] not present a risk to national security or public safety [00:07] will be able to request temporary relief from [00:11] deportation. In 2012 President Obama implemented [00:15] a policy that protected children who were brought to [00:18] the US by their parents, undocumented children called [00:21] the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It protected [00:24] about 700, 000 young people from deportation. This [00:28] is a Temporary stop gap measure that lets us focus [00:32] our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and [00:35] hope to talented, driven patriotic young [00:40] people. It ended up being his main policy on [00:44] immigration. The only problem with that policy was it's [00:47] Largely temporary and it can easily be rolled back by [00:50] the next president. Obama [ FOREIGN ] Barack Obama [00:54] leaves a bit of a mixed bag on immigration reform. [00:56] While he was helping these young arrivals, he also [01:02] was enforcing immigration laws that saw [01:06] 2. 4 million In people deported from the US. [01:10] And the president failed to get legislation passed [01:14] during his first term, when had the majority in the [01:17] house and senate. So in 2012, when he implemented [01:20] DACA, it was see kind of as a watershed moment. [01:24] People were very excited, thinking that this would be [01:26] the first and many uses of executive power to kind of [01:29] Make a dent on immigration reform but it never [01:31] happened. 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