Thread by @ajplus

The Supreme Court starts hearings today to decide the fate of #DACA, after President Trump rescinded it.

The program:
▪️ protects 700K young people brought to the U.S. from deportation
▪️ gives them access to work and study permits
▪️ is supported by 2/3 of Americans

Most #DACA recipients came to the U.S. as small children.

Ending the program could send many back to countries they barely know.

Who qualifies for #DACA?

The program is available to an estimated 1.3M people under 30 who:
▪️ Arrived undocumented in the U.S. as children
▪️ Pass background and criminal record checks
▪️ Graduated from or are enrolled in school

The #DACA program has let many young undocumented people pursue careers as doctors, engineers and other professionals.

The financial impacts of ending it (source: @amprog):
▪️ 600,000+ people cut from the U.S. workforce
▪️ $460B loss to U.S. GDP over the next 10 years

@amprog "Home is here!"

#DACA recipients led protesters in a chant outside the Supreme Court after it heard arguments about President Trump's attempt to end the program.

@amprog What is the Supreme Court deciding about #DACA?

▪️ It will rule whether the Trump admin. gave adequate reasoning to end the program.
▪️ Lower courts said it did not, calling the initial explanation — which plaintiffs say was 1-sentence long — "arbitrary and capricious."