There are some 600,000 so-called “dreamers” in this country and many more waiting to obtain that special status currently afforded the children of illegal immigrants, brought to the U.S., often as infants, and who Donald Trump tried to send back to the country of their birth.

The Biden administration has just announced a new rule to protect those recipients of protection under the 2012 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, or DACA.


Reacting to a decision by federal district judge Andrew Hanen in Texas in July, which ruled that the (DACA) policy violated federal law, the Department of Homeland Security said its new rule will "preserve and fortify" the DACA program by addressing objections to how it was implemented.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urged Congress to include immigration reform in the reconciliation bill currently being debated and "provide the Dreamers the legal status they need and deserve."

The Texas federal district court ruling left the program's benefits intact for DACA recipients who have been unable to obtain legal status after being brought to the U.S. as children, but it blocked future applications by some 50,000 young immigrants who need the protection. The Biden administration has appealed that decision as it seeks a pathway to citizen for Dreamers in Congress.

Today we’re speaking with Tahmina Watson, a Seattle-based immigration attorney whose law firm focuses exclusively on U.S. immigration and naturalization law.

Tahmina is an experienced and passionate attorney who focuses on employment-based, family-based and investor immigration law. She hosts a radio show turned podcast, “Tahmina Talks Immigration”, on which she discusses immigration news updates and interviews immigrants and people who are making an impact.

She’s also the author of the book, “The Startup Visa: Key to Job Growth & Economy Prosperity in America, which advocates for a new visa category for entrepreneurs and startup founders. Joining me on the podcast is legal thriller author Mark M. Bello, who has just published a new book, Betrayal at the Border.

So with that, Tahmina Watson, have these DACA folks not made a huge contribution to this country in the years that they’ve been here?