Immigration activists in the US state of Texas are preparing to launch protests on various fronts, with fears growing that President Donald Trump is about to end the deferred action program protecting undocumented immigrants that came to the US as minors, at the same time that a tough new immigration law is about to come into effect.
On Friday, NBC News reported that the President seems likely to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program created by executive action by President Barack Obama in 2012. Around 800,000 undocumented immigrants have been recipients of the program, with the majority living in either Texas or California and the status having to be renewed every couple of years.
While campaigning for the Presidency in 2016, Trump pledged to bring the program to an end, but while he has pursued several tough immigration policies since taking over the White House in January, he has seemed to waver on the issue of deferred action. But, 10 states controlled by the Republican Party, including Texas, have pressured the Trump administration to end the DACA program and are threatening legal action if they do not start dismantling it by 5 September.
Immigrant groups are planning a rally in Texas on 1 September, when the state law known as SB4, which effectively bans sanctuary city policies and which also grants police the right to question detainees on their immigration status.