Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio says he supports bipartisan action to create a more permanent solution in the wake of President Trump's decision to dismantle the program that protects more than 800 thousand young people from deportation. 44 hundred of those people live in Ohio under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Portman says he agrees with President Trump's plan to end DACA within six months, but wants Congress to adopt its own version of DACA and address issues within the immigration system.
Portman's Ohio colleague, Democrat Sherrod Brown, calls Trump's decision cruel and inhumane.
Brown says he will fight to protect the program. Students attending Ohio colleges under the program are hoping to stay in the U.S. Case Western Reserve University student Esmeralda Terraza is taking the president's decision personally.
Classmate Monserrath Salas is concerned she won't be able to complete the school year.
Case officials say they will continue to support DACA students. Officials at Lake Erie College in Painesville say dreamers are welcome at the school. Fourteen Ohio university presidents are calling on Congressional leaders to oppose the president's decision. The members of the Inter-University Council of Ohio call on Congress to find a permanent solution, provide protection for DACA participants and allow them to complete their degree programs.
