When Donald Trump announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, he made a very cynical political decision. He tried to have it both ways: assuage his nationalist base by fulfilling a mean-spirited campaign promise, while at the same time claiming compassion for DREAMers by urging congress to take up the issue. Trump is playing a dangerous game of political hot potato, and our young people are caught up in the middle.
As an employee of the University of Utah, working with Salt Lake City’s west side communities to strengthen pathways to higher education, I have had the privilege of knowing many young people we are calling DREAMers – youth brought to the U.