Trump Administration Looks To Roll Back Some Benefits For DACA Recipients

Summary

Episode Summary: "Trump Administration Looks To Roll Back Some Benefits For DACA Recipients"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The NPR Politics Podcast
• Host/Author: NPR
• Episode: Trump Administration Looks To Roll Back Some Benefits For DACA Recipients
• Release Date: July 28, 2025

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1. Introduction to DACA

The episode begins with the hosts Deepa Shivaram, Jimena Bustillo, and Mara Liasson delving into the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Jimena Bustillo provides a comprehensive overview:

Jimena Bustillo [01:40]: “DACA is a program that was created in 2012 under the Obama administration, and its goal was to provide some sort of temporary relief or protection to particularly children who arrived in the United States illegally prior to 2007.”

DACA was intended as a temporary measure to protect eligible immigrants from deportation and grant them work permits, thereby offering stability while awaiting comprehensive immigration reform—a reform that Congress has yet to enact.

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2. Benefits and Demographics of DACA

Jimena outlines the benefits afforded to DACA recipients, often referred to as "Dreamers":

Jimena Bustillo [03:32]: “You got a work permit. So that's a big thing. Once the kids... DACA provided work permits and then eventually access to the Affordable Care Act marketplace.”

As of the second quarter of 2025, there are approximately 525,000 DACA recipients in the U.S., predominantly from Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Many DACA recipients have built established lives in the country, with some reaching their late 30s and early 40s.

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3. Recent Changes Under the Trump Administration

The core of the episode focuses on the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle aspects of the DACA program. Jimena reports:

Jimena Bustillo [06:27]: “In recent weeks, there have been efforts to almost strip away benefits that DACA recipients have previously been able to get. So there's a new rule out of the Health and Human Services Department that would make DACA recipients ineligible for that federal health care marketplace.”

Additional changes include the Education Department reviewing financial aid programs for DACA recipients and an intensification of immigration enforcement, leading to increased detentions and deportations of DACA holders. Notable incidents include the deportation of a DACA recipient from Missouri and detentions in California and Florida.

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4. Impact on DACA Recipients

The erosion of DACA protections places recipients in precarious positions. Jimena explains the vulnerabilities:

Jimena Bustillo [07:25]: “DACA is not a legal status, but it is supposed to provide some level of protection... That's what's being eroded.”

The Trump administration's Project 2025 explicitly targets programs like DACA for termination, labeling them as unlawful. This systematic stripping away of protections has profound implications for the affected individuals' ability to live and work in the U.S. securely.

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5. State-Level Responses: Focus on Texas

The discussion shifts to state-level actions, particularly in Texas, where efforts are underway to revoke work permits for DACA recipients:

Jimena Bustillo [10:45]: “In Texas, there are efforts to continue to strip away the protections given to DACA recipients. They are challenging the ability for DACA recipients to have those work permits in the state.”

Such measures not only disrupt local economies, which benefit from the labor provided by DACA recipients, but also exacerbate the instability these individuals face due to the patchwork of federal and state policies.

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6. Political Dynamics and Support for DACA

Mara Liasson provides insight into the political landscape surrounding DACA:

Mara Liasson [05:12]: “Polling shows that it is popular with voters in both parties. DACA recipients... are sympathetic. That's one of the reasons why DACA has persisted.”

Despite bipartisan voter support, legislative action remains stalled. Democrats continue to back DACA, but their efforts are hindered by the administration's antagonistic policies. Republicans have largely remained silent unless local economies are directly impacted, resulting in limited advocacy for DACA protections at the federal level.

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7. Future Outlook and Conclusion

The episode concludes with a contemplation of the future for DACA recipients amidst ongoing political and administrative challenges. Jimena emphasizes the uncertainty facing these individuals:

Jimena Bustillo [16:16]: “Are they safe from deportations in the future?... What we really need to be looking at moving forward is those who are DACA recipients and end up in detention or end up in a deportation process...”

The hosts acknowledge that without comprehensive immigration reform, DACA recipients will continue to navigate an unstable and fragmented system, living in perpetual limbo.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jimena Bustillo [01:40]: “Deferred action means deferred action from immigration enforcement... it is put on pause or on hold.”

• Mara Liasson [05:12]: “DACA recipients... are sympathetic. That's one of the reasons why DACA has persisted.”

• Jimena Bustillo [07:25]: “DACA is not a legal status, but it is supposed to provide some level of protection... That's what's being eroded.”

• Mara Liasson [15:26]: “Stephen Miller expresses is the operative policy.”

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Conclusion:

This episode of The NPR Politics Podcast provides an in-depth analysis of the Trump administration's actions to dismantle the DACA program, highlighting the significant impact on hundreds of thousands of Dreamers. Through expert commentary and detailed reporting, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the legal, social, and political challenges facing DACA recipients in the current climate.

Transcript

[Catherine Marr]

When you walk into NPR headquarters, one of the first things you see is a big map of the country covered with little blue dots. Each dot represents a local public radio station. That's the NPR Network. I'm Catherine Marr, CEO of npr. With federal funding for public media eliminated, your network is under serious threat. Help us plan for the road [e-mail] Buenos Dias, NPR.

[Jimena Bustillo]

This is Fabi calling from Quesada Jaen.

[Catherine Marr]

In the south of Spain. I'm currently finishing up my morning run surrounded by kilometers and kilometers worth of.

[Jimena Bustillo]

The very olive trees that create some.

[Catherine Marr]

Of the best olive oil in the world.

[Mara Liasson]

Nice.

[Catherine Marr]

This podcast was recorded at 12:39pm on Monday, July 28, 2025. Things may have changed by the time you've heard this, but I've probably picked a new favorite tree by the time I get home. Enjoy the oh, that sounds so peaceful. Like running. Her running sounded peaceful. You know what I mean?

[Jimena Bustillo]

Yeah, Not a faded breath at all.

[Catherine Marr]

I was gonna say not my experience running, but wow. Couldn't be nicer for her. Hey there. It's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Deepa Shivaram. I cover the White House.

[Jimena Bustillo]

I'm Jimena Bustillo, and I cover immigration policy.

[Mara Liasson]

And I'm Mara Liasson, senior national political correspondent.

[Catherine Marr]

And today on the show, we're talking about some of the changes that have happened to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as daca. And Jimena, you've been doing a lot of reporting on this, but to start from the beginning here, remind us what DACA is, when it was created and how this program is supposed to work.

[Jimena Bustillo]

So DACA is a program that was created in 2012 under the Obama administration, and its goal was to provide some sort of temporary relief or protection to particularly children who arrived in the United States illegally prior to 2007. So deferred action means deferred action from immigration enforcement, meaning that even if you are someone that might be susceptible to being arrested, detained or deported, you know, that is deferred, it is put on pause or on hold.

[Catherine Marr]

And these are kids that came with their parents, like their parents brought them here.

[Jimena Bustillo]

Yeah. The logic was, you know, these kids didn't choose to enter the country illegally. The idea was also that this would be a band Aid and a temporary fix in order to give Congress time to pass, you know, more meaningful and robust immigration reform, which we have not seen since.

[Catherine Marr]

Hasn't happened.

[Jimena Bustillo]

Exactly. So there's different kind of qualifications for daca. The, you know, time period, the coming into the country as a child before 2007 is a big part of it. You had to be enrolled in school, certain other things as well, not commit any misdemeanors, crimes, felonies. And DACA recipients need to reapply for that DACA status every two years. And it's not guaranteed that they'll get. Get that back. And so in the meantime, if their DACA status lapses while they're waiting for their application or, you know, the process is just really slow, they're not able to work, they can't go to school, they've lost any protection that they had, as if they were here without legal status.

[Catherine Marr]

And you also had benefits as a DACA recipient, so you were able to attend school, you had health care coverage, question mark, things like that eventually.

[Jimena Bustillo]

So you got a work permit. So that's a big thing. Once the kids, at the time, kids were of age to work legally in the United States. DACA provided work permits and then eventually access to the Affordable Care act marketplace. That was a newer policy change for healthcare. And different states have done different protections. So we've seen some states extend scholarship opportunities for students who are undocumented or have DACA be able to provide access to, you know, different student loans and kind of things like that as well.

[Catherine Marr]

And so for these DACA recipients, who are also sometimes called dreamers. Right. How many people under DACA are living in the United States right now?

[Jimena Bustillo]

Yeah, so as of the second quarter of this year, there are 525,000 people who are classified as DACA recipients. They originally came from over 150 countries, although most are from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. And that's According to the U.S. citizenship and Immigration Services. Now, as you mentioned, a majority of recipients are. They're not kids anymore. You know, some are in their late 30s and even early 40s, have very established lives in the United States. If you are on daca, your ability to travel outside the United States is also really, really limited and constrained. And so this country is all that they've ever known, worked for, invested in, built their families.

[Catherine Marr]

Wow. I mean, Mara, we talked earlier, just now, about how this was supposed to be a band aid fix, like a temporary solution. Congress never actually codified daca. So would you consider this a popular program politically?

[Mara Liasson]

Well, polling shows that it is popular with voters in both parties. DACA recipients often, you know, kids who came here very, very young are sympathetic. That's one of the reasons why DACA has persisted. But what's interesting to me is when Jimena explained that this is not a law and it was meant to be a band Aid. The whole reason we're in this fix is because Congress has failed over and over again to pass comprehensive immigration reform. And the kind of holy grail of that reform bill would have been a path to citizenship for the dreamers for DACA recipients and some kind of tougher border security. So basically, we don't have illegal immigrants coming into the country. We have legal immigrants coming in to help us solve our severe labor shortage. But that never happened. And when problems fester and are not solved by Congress, voters get mad. And I believe that that failure to to pass comprehensive reform is one of the many things that allowed Donald Trump to become president.

[Catherine Marr]

Interesting. Well, taking that aside for one second, I mean, we started talking about this because, Ximena, there have been some changes coming to the DACA program that you've been reporting on. What have you learned through your reporting?

[Jimena Bustillo]

So in recent weeks, there have been efforts to almost strip away benefits that DACA recipients have previously been able to get. So there's a new rule out of the Health and Human Services Department that would make DACA recipients ineligible for that federal health care marketplace. The Education Department is then separately, you know, saying that it's going to look into a few universities that offer financial programs for DACA recipients. And then at the same time, we have, you know, this growing immigration enforcement push. And in that, you know, many different people have gotten caught up that, including U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents. But we've also seen DACA recipients get arrested and get detained, you know, which is continuing to expand the scope of who might get caught in the crosshairs of an attempt to create mass deportations.

[Catherine Marr]

So you're saying that there have been DACA recipients in this country who have been caught up in these ICE raids. What happens then?

[Jimena Bustillo]

There was a DACA recipient out of Missouri that was actually deported and then allowed to return after two weeks. In California, we have seen that DACA recipients have been detained during work site raids. Or in Florida, a DACA recipient, according to his lawyers, was held at the newly opened Everglades Detention Center. And, you know, again, this idea is that DACA is it's not a legal status, but it is supposed to provide some level of protection. So kind of similarly, how US Citizens are supposed to say they're US Citizens, they shouldn't be detained in immigration detention. DACA recipients should have some additional protection to prevent, you know, that enforcement hitting them.

[Catherine Marr]

And that's what's being eroded.

[Jimena Bustillo]

Yes.

[Mara Liasson]

And what's so interesting about that is we do know that Project 2025, which is this template for the Trump administration on many, many issues, something that Trump disavowed during the campaign because it included so many unpopular ideas, lists DACA as a number of, quote, unlawful programs. So it sounds like the purpose is to strip away DACA protections.

[Catherine Marr]

Yeah, a lot of changes coming to this program. We're going to get more into that right after this break. Support for this podcast and the following.

[Jimena Bustillo]

Message come from Made in Cookware President.

[Catherine Marr]

And co founder Jake Kalik shares the key ingredients that go into Made in products.

[Jimena Bustillo]

We try to design products that are going to last you an incredibly long time. And to know that we're making this in places that take the raw material seriously, take the manufacturing processes seriously, that's ultimately what's going to allow us to sleep better at night selling this product to you.

[Catherine Marr]

Learn more about Made in cookware@ma d eincookware.com hi, it's Catherine Marr, CEO of NPR. Federal funding for public media has been eliminated. That means that the NPR network is moving forward in an uncharted future. But our commitment to you will never waver. Please give today to support the kind of journalism that democracy relies upon. Make your [e-mail] thank you. This summer on Planet Money Summer School, we're learning about political economy. We're getting into the nitty gritty of.

[Jimena Bustillo]

What government does with things like trade.

[Mara Liasson]

Taxes, immigration and healthcare.

[Jimena Bustillo]

So politics and economics, which are taught.

[Catherine Marr]

Separately, they shouldn't be separated at all.

[Jimena Bustillo]

I think you have to understand one to really appreciate the other. So what is the right amount of.

[Mara Liasson]

Government in our lives?

[Jimena Bustillo]

Tune into Planet Money Summer School from.

[Catherine Marr]

NPR wherever you get your podcasts. Are you that friend, the one who's constantly recommending podcast episodes to anyone who will Listen? Subscribe to NPR's pod club newsletter and nerd out with us. You'll get fresh podcast recommendations every week handpicked by the people that live for this stuff. [e-mail] podclub you can also find the link in the description for this episode. And we're back. So, Jimena, I want to get back into some of these changes that we've been seeing in the DACA policy. One thing that's happening is also on a state level in Texas. Can you tell us what's happening there?

[Jimena Bustillo]

So in Texas, there are efforts to continue to strip away the protections given to DACA recipients. They are challenging the ability for DACA recipients to have those work permits in the state. You know Immigration advocates tell me that Texas is one of the states with the highest number of DACA recipients. And if they were to lose their ability to work, you know, that would be very significant to the local economies there, but would also, you know, continue this pattern of over a decade of whiplash that these recipients have faced in terms of what is their legal standing, what rights do they have, where can they live, where can they work, that just patchwork gets bigger.

[Catherine Marr]

Yeah. The thing with a band aid policy is that there's no permanency to it.

[Jimena Bustillo]

Yeah, no permanency to it. And although we haven't seen specific moves on, like, the regulatory level, like, there's specific things that presidents have to submit and paperwork and things to change, regulations like that, that hasn't been done yet. But we are seeing this shifting rhetoric, these different lawsuits, these different things that bring into question, like, where is DACA really going this time, Jimena?

[Mara Liasson]

Can Texas do that? Can states alter the detail of federal immigration policy?

[Jimena Bustillo]

Well, they can certainly try. You know, I think we've seen Texas and other states challenge the federal government in its approach to immigration policy across administrations. And so this is just one of the many ways that, you know, the state is trying to argue that the federal policy is wrong and doesn't serve its state.

[Catherine Marr]

So, Tammany, you were saying that there hasn't really been this official policy change necessarily from the Trump administration. Right. It's not like it's like, come out in blaring red letters yet, but there have been this. This kind slowed drip like you've been talking about. What has DHS said? What have you heard from them?

[Jimena Bustillo]

So I did reach out to the Department of Homeland Security to ask them what their current stance on DACA is in terms of how it interacts with its goals for immigration enforcement. And the spokeswoman responded to me saying that, you know, those who claim to be recipients of DACA are, quote, not automatically protected from deportations and that DACA does not confirm any form of legal status in this country. She then follows that up with a paragraph advocating that anyone who's in this country illegally should consider self deporting. And so there's kind of like a few things to look at here. The first is she's right. DACA does not confirm any form of legal status in this country. But being able to prove that you are a recipient of DACA should protect you from deportation and should protect you from further immigration enforcement if you haven't committed a crime. If you haven't. Yeah. And if you haven't Committed a crime. I mean, granted, if you have committed a crime, you lose your DACA status. So it's kind of like a one way street there. The other thing is that is a pivot from after he won the election. President Trump in his first network interview said that he wanted DACA recipients to stay. And that is a change in the politics of how this administration is moving forward on dealing with those who are DACA recipients.

[Catherine Marr]

And I will just add quickly, not just DACA here, but also other groups of people who are here with temporary protected status. It's a larger, you know, rhetoric from this current administration when it comes to folks who don't have citizenship.

[Jimena Bustillo]

Yes. The administration has pushed this idea of self deportation beyond people who are here without legal status. Thinking about folks who came in through what was formerly known as the CBP1 app, which was a legal way of seeking an asylum appointment, that was a legal avenue in. Now they're being encouraged to leave and self deport. And then of course, we're seeing the revocations of other forms of temporary protected status and they're being encouraged to leave as well. And so bringing DACA into that group is a change.

[Catherine Marr]

Yeah, Mara. I mean, look, we've heard a lot from this administration. Dhs, like Jimena was saying, certainly when I'm at the White House, you hear Press Secretary Caroline Levitt, people like Stephen Miller talk about their immigration policy. What has Trump specifically said about DACA though?

[Mara Liasson]

Well, in the past, Trump has said positive things about DACA recipients and the dreamers. He suggested that somehow he wants to protect them. But there's a pattern here. When there's a difference, and there often is, between what Trump says and what other administration officials say. In the case of immigration, it usually ends up that what Stephen Miller expresses is the operative policy.

[Catherine Marr]

Stephen Miller being Trump's White House advisor. Yeah.

[Mara Liasson]

And he has the immigration portfolio and he is a hardline anti immigration person. He wants people to self deport. He has stripped legal protections from all sorts of immigrants. Jimena just talked about TPS status, which covered people from Venezuela, from Ukraine. So I think in this case, it almost doesn't matter what Trump says. It matters what the White House does. And they've been systematically stripping away these protections.

[Catherine Marr]

The Trump administration is sort of like on a smaller ish level, changing their policies towards daca, which amounts to a lot of changes for people who are DACA recipients. So going forward, for people who are here with DACA protections or used to have these protections, are they safe from deportations in the future?

[Jimena Bustillo]

Immigration attorneys that I've talked to over the course of the last week to kind of suss that question out in and of itself have emphasized to me that deferred action should provide that protection. Are there reasons you can lose that deferred action also? Yes. And so I think what we really need to be looking at moving forward is those who are DACA recipients and end up in detention or end up in a deportation process, you know, is there a reason otherwise that they would have lost their DACA status, therefore are no longer DACA recipients? Or, you know, is this someone that was abiding by all the laws and maybe was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time for an immigration arrest?

[Catherine Marr]

Yeah. Mara, I want to bring the politics back into this for a second because I'm thinking about so many State of the Union addresses and presidential speeches where the president would call on Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship for dreamers. And there was a general amount of bipartisan applause. Democrats in Congress used to have signs outside their offices on the Hill that are saying, I stand with dreamers. Where is the political support right now for DACA recipients?

[Mara Liasson]

Well, I think that if you did an anonymous survey, you'd find tremendous support. Political support for doing something about the dreamers and providing a path to citizenship for DACA recipients has always been part of what would be a comprehensive immigration reform bill if Congress could get its act together to pass one. But I think that right now, Democrats at least, who have been the biggest supporters of the dreamers, are dealing with dozens of administration policies that they object to. I think mostly Republicans have been quiet because today's Republican Party doesn't include pushing back against the Trump White House. And I think what we've been waiting for is whether there would be real pressure on Republican representatives from places where Trump's immigration policies have really decimated local economies. When the immigration policies start affecting people on a day to day basis, they might start calling their representatives. But we certainly haven't seen a backlash yet among Republican representatives in Washington or Republican voters in red states.

[Catherine Marr]

Yeah. And in the meantime, these 500,000 or so DACA recipients are still living in limbo. We're going to leave it there for today. I'm Deepa Shivaram. I cover the White House.

[Jimena Bustillo]

I'm Jimena Bustillo and I cover immigration policy.

[Mara Liasson]

And I'm Mara Liasson, senior national political correspondent.

[Catherine Marr]

And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics podcast.

[Jimena Bustillo]

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