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Fearing Trump Crackdown, "Dreamers" Advised to End Travel

by Associated Press

   Immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, but were
   protected from deportation by President Barack Obama, are being warned
   by some advocates to make sure they are not traveling abroad when
   Donald Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

   Some advocates, lawyers and universities are concerned that Trump might
   immediately rescind an Obama program that had allowed these young
   immigrants to work and travel for humanitarian, educational or
   employment purposes.

   That could lead, they fear, to some people traveling abroad being
   barred from re-entering the U.S.

   "We are recommending all travel be completed by or before Jan. 20 in
   the event laws or procedures experience a drastic change," said
   Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane
   Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. "We wouldn't want to expose them to an
   uncertain situation should they not be allowed back to the U.S."

   Trump's immigration plans unknown

   Trump made illegal immigration the cornerstone of his campaign,
   promising to build a wall along the Mexican border and deport millions
   of people living in the country illegally.

   His actual plans, though, have yet to be revealed. Recently, he has
   said he wants to focus on people who have committed crimes.

   During a recent Time magazine interview, Trump expressed sympathy for
   the 741,000 people in Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
   program, which started in 2012.

   "We're going to work something out that's going to make people happy
   and proud," Trump said. "They got brought here at a very young age,
   they've worked here, they've gone to school here. Some were good
   students. Some have wonderful jobs. And they're in never-never land
   because they don't know what's going to happen."

   Advocates are still being cautious.

   In this photo taken Dec. 1, 2016, Mexican students Yatziri Tovar, left,
   and Roxanna Herrera, discuss their travel plans at City College of New
   York.

   Nancy Lopez-Ramirez, a 20-year-old student born in Mexico who is
   planning a trip there as part of a City College of New York class, said
   she is glad the group is returning by Jan. 15.

   "My mom is like 'I am concerned with you not coming back, I want you to
   be able to come back,'" she said.

   "It is nerve-wracking but I think that at the end it is going to be
   worth it," said the political-science student, who was brought to the
   U.S. when she was 4.

   City College, part of the City University of New York, is one of the
   institutions advising students in the DACA program to return before
   Inauguration Day. So is California State University, which told
   administrators to tell participants in the program "that if they are
   outside of the United States as of January 20, 2017, there is no
   assurance they will be allowed to return to the U.S."

   Trump can rescind the promised protection right away through an
   "operational memo" because Obama implemented it through one, said
   William Stock, president of the American Immigration Lawyers
   Association.

   He said the program's participants should not consider traveling
   overseas unless they absolutely need to.

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Anthony Bucci said his
   agency "cannot speculate" when he was asked how long would it take for
   CBP officers to deny entry to the U.S. to program participants if Trump
   eliminated the protection.

   U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services records said that as of Dec.
   31, 2015, about 22,340 people in the DACA program were approved for the
   "parole" that allows them to travel outside the U.S.

   Trump called the program an "illegal amnesty" during his campaign.

   Tatyana Kleyn, an associate professor at City College who organized the
   upcoming Mexico trip, said interest in it actually surged among
   students after the presidential election.

   "So right now our bus fits 18 and we are bringing 20," she said. "It
   feels like a last chance."