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Homeland Security reviewing status of Obama’s deferred action program for illegal immigrants

Washington • Top officials at the Department of Homeland Security met this week to review the status of a deferred-action program for illegal immigrants that could face a legal challenge from Texas next month, raising fears among advocates that President Donald Trump could choose to eliminate it.

Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke and Thomas Homan, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, were among those who gathered Monday to deliberate over the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), according to an agency official with knowledge of the meeting.

During his campaign, Trump vowed to end DACA, which began in 2012 under the Obama administration, on his first day in office, calling it an unconstitutional abuse of executive authority.