Last night hundreds of Lexington residents gathered in front of the courthouse downtown, to protest the Trump administration’s recent decision to end the DACA program, however it seemed only a select handful of the group truly understood what this meant.
“Look if there’s one thing I don’t like it’s Trump’s stance on immigration, so that’s why I’m down here. You know, to support people that may not have a voice, or are unable to speak out, in fear that they might be persecuted or deported for doing so. And as soon as I know a little bit more about what Trump did, I plan on doing something about it,” said protester Tammy Jackson, as she held a blank sign in one hand and a sharpie in the other.
“We want DACA, yes we do. We want DACA how ‘bout you?” The spirited crowd began to chant before it morphed into “DACA, DACA it is good, it helps… families?” The crowd then began to look around at each other hoping someone knew enough about what DACA was to explain it to the crowd but no one did; it was then that the angry mob decided they would need to reschedule their protest until they had enough time to google to find out what exactly it was they were mad about.
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is an immigration policy put forth by the Obama administration that allows minors that may have entered the country illegally to get on track for being here legally. This policy forged a way for almost a million young people nationwide that wouldn’t otherwise be accounted for to get a driver’s license, or enroll in college, or potentially become legal employees and pay taxes.
“We didn’t really even know that this policy was controversial? I think that’s why we know so little about it? It’s pretty frustrating that in a time where many of us as Americans are coming together to help those in Houston rebuild after a disaster, and help those in Florida prepare for an impending one, that we have to go back to what we were doing at the beginning of August and worry about protesting everything,” Jackson explained.
“I mean I was gonna start a chant, but I’m not sure if it sounds like NASA with a soft C, or you say it like DACKA, so it’s hard to know where to go with a rhyme scheme. I’ve only seen it written down, and I’m pretty sure today was the first day I saw it,” said Jackson as she looked up the acronym on rhymezone.com.