Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Flagstaff yesterday to oppose President Trump’s decision to end protections for young, undocumented immigrants, also known as dreamers. They joined thousands of others in the state who rallied in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. KNAU’s Ryan Heinsius reports.
The demonstrators numbered in the hundreds and gathered outside of Flagstaff City Hall waving signs and chanting slogans. They protested the end of the DACA program, which shields immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation.
Robert Neustadt is with the immigrants’ rights group Keep Flagstaff Together and helped organize the rally.
“I think it’s a real slap in the face to dreamers who did nothing wrong. I think it’s a real slap in the face to their undocumented parents who were only striving to make a decent life for their families,” says Neustadt.
Flagstaff Mayor Coral Evans and other local officials also took part in the rally.
President Trump’s decision ends DACA in six months, and he’s called on Congress to pass legislation to replace it. The president calls the Obama-era program an abuse of power and unconstitutional.
There are about 28,000 DACA recipients in Arizona, and nearly 800,000 nationwide.
