Immigration security

Trump makes his priorities clearer, and deportation of young immigrants has fallen off the list

Trump left it to Press Secretary Sean Spicer to indicate the administration has put off ending a controversial program that temporarily shields from deportation more than 742,000 young people who came to the U.S. illegally as children, despite promising during the campaign to “immediately terminate” it. 

Officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that issues the work permits, were still accepting applications Monday for two-year permits and protections from removal under the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, said agency spokesman Steve Blando. 

Trump, who made enforcement of immigration law a centerpiece of his campaign, will concentrate on deporting more people who threaten public safety, Spicer said, in a continuation of the Obama administration’s policy on prioritizing deportations.