MYTH: President Trump is initiating this disruption to the lives of hundreds of thousands of DACA beneficiaries.

FACT: The Trump Administration’s hand was forced by a pending court case in which DACA was likely to be terminated. Pending litigation from states attorney general with a deadline today forced the Administration to take action. A likely loss meant that the program would be rescinded entirely with no time to avoid inevitable disruptions.

MYTH: Rescinding DACA will lead to immediate and mass deportation.

FACT: Rescinding DACA does not lead to mass deportation because DACA recipients have never been an enforcement priority. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sets enforcement priorities that focuses on convicted criminals, recent illegal entry and visa overstays. These priorities have not and will not change.

FACT: Forget deportation, no one will be affected at all for at least six months, and in most cases, much longer. No current DACA beneficiaries will be impacted before March 5, 2018. Beneficiaries whose status expires before then will have ample time to renew their status.

FACT: Congress can take action to permanently fix the problem. This timeframe gives Congress six months to responsibly address federal immigration law in an appropriate and constitutional manner – through the legislative process.

MYTH: Rescinding DACA is cruel, because it targets minors who have only known the United States as their home.

FACT: Rescinding DACA does not target children. There is a misconception that DACA beneficiaries are children. While they were minors when entering the United States, the overwhelming majority are adults. The average recipient of a DACA permit is in his or her mid-20s. They range from ages 15 to 36.

FACT: The responsibility lies with President Obama, who knew his DACA Program clearly violated federal law. President Obama’s DACA program is clearly unlawful. How do we know? President Obama said it himself. Repeatedly, prior to his 2012 announcement of DACA, President Obama admitted he had no legal authority to ignore federal immigration law. But bowing to politics in an election year, he reversed course to authorize the program in what he even then called “a temporary stopgap measure.”

MYTH: Rescinding DACA will cause immediate and lasting damage to the economy by removing a pillar from the work force.

FACT: Should Congress fail to act, businesses would have between 6 and 24 months to replace any DACA beneficiary whose status expires. No current DACA beneficiaries will be impacted before March 2, 2018. Beneficiaries whose status expires before then will have ample time to renew their status.

FACT: Should Congress fail to act, there are over 5 million unemployed Americans from age 16-34 to replace the 800,000 DACA beneficiaries. Last year, there were over 5 million Americans from the age of 16-34 were unemployed. In addition, there are 50 million more Americans in that age range who aren’t even in the work force.

MYTH: DHS will begin using the data from DACA recipients to find and deport them as part of the President’.

FACT: Information provided to USCIS in DACA requests will not be proactively provided to ICE and CBP for the purpose of immigration enforcement proceedings.