How Trump is endangering undocumented Bangladeshi-American youth

A group of undocumented Bangladeshi-Americans are in a fix but there is no talk of it in their country of origin.One of them is Nayim Islam, a 25-year-old activist living in New York City. He is a recipient of protection provided by an immigration policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA protects undocumented people, who were brought to the United States as minors, from being on the frontline for deportation. Passed in June 2012, the order enabled undocumented high-school educated minors to get two-years of clemency and a valid work permit. This was enacted by former President Barack Obama through an executive order.“I came to the US from Bangladesh when I was nine years old,” he says, “I came to the US on a visitor's visa and as soon as the visa expired, I became undocumented.” His parents too are undocumented.He received his DACA in 2013 and holds a job with a local rights organisation. “I currently work as a community organiser at Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), focusing on immigrant rights in the South Asian community in New York City,” he says. “Having DACA has allowed me to work legally with benefits and support myself and my family.”This protection that gives him the basic right to work and earn a livelihood may not be there for very long. On September 5, 2017 the Trump administration formally announced that it will end the Obama-era presidential executive order. The administration gave it a dying grace of six months.Rolling back the protections given by DACA means asking Nayim Islam to go back to Bangladesh. In a video produced by a non-profit called MoveOn.org, that is circulated online, Islam says, “The Department of Homeland Security, in their memo, basically said to us, 'Pack up your bags and leave.'”“No. I'm here to stay and I'm here to fight,” he states, resolutely.On September 5, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website announced: “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated the orderly phase out of the program[me] known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).” In addition to snuffing out the hope of renewal for existing applications, this also meant that no new applications were to be processed. The website further explained: “If you did not request initial DACA on or before September 5, 2017, then the DACA process is no longer available to you”. Similarly, if “[y]our DACA expired on or before Sept 4, 2017, and you did not properly file your renewal request on or before Sept. 5, 2017” then there is no further protection from deportation This effectively denies rights to a whole group of youth who are eligible for DACA but do not have it yet—numbers of which are unavailable.Although the provision gave visibility to undocumented immigrants for only two years at a time, it was renewable. Trump's decision will effectively take away that option turning the policy into what Vox has termed a “ticking time-bomb”. According to USCIS data, this will affect 689,000 active DACA recipients of whom 490 are of Bangladeshi-origin.This population could have contributed USD 280 billion to USD 430 billion over the next 10 years, as per research by think-tanks Center for American Progress and Cato Institute. Bangladeshi-Americans are one of the fastest growing immigrant communities in the United States; the 2011 community census showed that this population almost doubled in number from 2008 to 2011. According to the census, a population of around 50,000 were living in New York City alone, constituting the fifth largest Asian group in the city. Of the population, half did not hold citizenship, and while this included people on different visas, it also comprised a large number of the undocumented.