President Trump To DACA Recipients: 'Nothing To Worry About'

WASHINGTON, DC — At the beginning of the week, the Trump administration told people protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that it would wind down the program that protects them from deportation, allows them driver's licenses, let's them go to college, provides them work permits and allows them to participate more fully in American society.

On Thursday morning, President Trump tweeted that these people have "nothing to worry about."

"For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6 month period," he wrote, "you have nothing to worry about - No action!" (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

DACA provided protected status and benefits to around 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors. It was an Obama-era executive program established in 2012 in lieu of legislation from Congress that would have addressed the struggles this group faces. On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that registrations for the program, which last for two years, would begin expiring in six months. Anyone whose registration expires before the six-month deadline can apply to extend participation in the program, but they only have until Oct. 5 to get their application in.

Also See: States Challenge Trump's DACA Decision In Court

This means, despite Trump's warning, DACA recipients do have a lot to worry about.

Those who thought they had as much as six months left to reapply to the program now have less than a month. And the reapplication process is not a simple matter — most notably because it requires people to pay $495, which many recipients may not have on hand.

And even if recipients are able to reapply and extend their status for another two years, their long-term fate will remain up in the air and subject to political winds.

Trump has urged Congress to act in response to his decision on DACA, which may be the source of his optimism for the program's recipients. However, he has not been specific about what he wants Congress to do about the issue.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday morning that Trump agreed to sign the DREAM Act, a bill that originally inspired the DACA program, if Congress passes it.

However, it's far from certain the bill can or will pass the Republican-led Congress.

Multiple outlets, including Axios, reported that Trump's "nothing to worry about tweet" came at the request of Pelosi.

Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images