Dreamers Explained

The Dreamers are about 800,000 young people, children of parents who illegally entered the United States (sometimes decades ago). Like all undocumented people, they lived furtively in a shadowy gray netherworld until 2012, when the Obama administration passed DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). This Act provided for protection for people who met the following criteria:

- younger than 31
- no criminal record
- brought to the U.S. before they were 16
- are in or have graduated from high school or secondary training institutions (college, university)
OR
- are in or have been honorably discharged from the U.S. military.

In addition, in order to qualify, they have to apply and pay $495 each time for a two-year renewable permit and provide a great deal of personal information. Conviction of a criminal offense disqualifies them.

DACA supporters say the government is "exercising prosecutorial discretion." I've seen examples of this before; the authorities choose not to prosecute people for a particular offense, allowing scarce law enforcement resources to be utilized on other offenders deemed to be more serious.

Detractors (Coulter, Limbaugh, Hannity, David Duke -- the usual suspects) don't see it that way. They see it as an Obama overreach, violating the law; as Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III put it, "an unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch," or according to the Cheeto-in-Chief, "an end run around Congress that violates the core tenets that sustain our Republic" -- although for the five years the legislation has been in place, it has never been successfully challenged in court.

The average "Dreamer" came to the U.S. at the age of 6, and today is 25 years old. 93% of those over the age of 25 are working; more than half have a spouse, child, or sibling who is an American citizen.