What is the DACA program?

The DACA program was formed through executive order by former President Barack Obama in 2012 and allowed certain people who came to the U.S. illegally as minors to be protected from immediate deportation. Recipients, called Dreamers, were able to request “consideration of deferred action” for a period of two years, which was subject to renewal.

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Individuals were able to request DACA status if they were under the age of 31 on June 15, 2012, came to the U.S. before turning 16 and continuously lived in the country since June 15, 2007.

Why is it ending?

Conservatives have long disliked DACA, with Trump pledging repeatedly during the campaign to immediately rescind it. After he left it untouched during the first half of the year, a group of Republican-led states threatened to challenge the program in the courts in front of a judge who had already blocked an expansion of DACA to parents of those individuals.

Claiming concern that the courts, in the administration’s eyes, would likely immediately invalidate DACA altogether, the Trump administration said the program would be terminated with a six-month window.

How many people are affected by DACA?

Nearly 800,000 undocumented youth are under the program’s umbrella.

Thousands of people could lose their jobs if the DACA program is rescinded permanently, according to a study by the left-leaning think tank, the Center for American Progress.

Daniel Garza, president of the conservative immigration nonprofit Libre Initiative, told Fox News that DACA offers a “reprieve from a life of uncertainty for innocent kids who didn’t break the law.”

“It’s rather disappointing to think they could return to a state of anxiety and fear,” he said

Do any DACA recipients serve in the military?

Despite some rumors circulating online to the contrary, Dreamers were eligible to serve in the U.S. military since 2014 when the Pentagon adopted a policy to allow a certain amount of undocumented immigrants to join.

In the fiscal year 2016, 359 DACA recipients had enlisted in the Army – which is the only branch to accept immigrants of this category.

A Department of Defense official said in April 2017 that the military would continue to accept noncitizen recruits, but it is unclear if that will continue to be the case.