Thursday marks the final day for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status renewal requests as the Trump administration moves to "wind down" the Obama-era program that grants work permits to young immigrants brought into America illegally as children. Of the 154,000 people whose status will expire between Sept. 5, 2017 and March 5, 2018, more than 106,000 have submitted requests or had their renewals adjudicated, ABC News reports. The Department of Homeland Security reports that around 48,000 eligible immigrants have not sought to renew their status.
DACA serves approximately 700,000 "DREAMers" around the country, including many who grew up in America and have no memory of their countries of birth. "I can definitely work back in Morocco with an American degree in computer science," Achraf Jellal, who moved to New York when he was 4, told NPR's Morning Edition. "But I've never been there. I don't know any of my family, actually."
The Trump administration has passed off a DACA decision to Congress, although if there is no action in the next five months, recipients will lose benefits beginning March 6, 2018. "We cannot admit everyone who would like to come here. It's just that simple," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said when announcing the Trump administration's decision earlier this year.