ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The announcement came as no surprise, and the reaction was swift.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Chanting) Undocumented.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #1: (Chanting) Unafraid.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Chanting) Undocumented.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #1: (Chanting) Unafraid.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Chanting) Undocumented.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #1: (Chanting) Unafraid.
SHAPIRO: From New York to Phoenix, from Wichita to Washington, crowds gathered to protest President Trump's decision to end DACA.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
That's the program President Obama launched in 2012. It offers protection from deportation and work permits for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Starting six months from now, some of the 800,000 DREAMers, as they're called, will begin losing those protections unless Congress acts.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #2: (Chanting in Spanish).
SHAPIRO: Outside the White House, a message for Trump himself. Listen, the crowd shouted in Spanish, we are here to fight.
DEYANIRA ALDANA: It's kind of surreal. I've already cried.
SHAPIRO: But Deyanira Aldana, herself a DACA recipient, says she is ready to figure out what to do next.
ALDANA: We've got 800,000 DACA recipients. We need to come out into the streets. And we need to be prepared to fight, right? And, you know, we've got to push for a legislative solution. We got - we can't be in this moment ever again.
SIEGEL: Outside Trump Tower in Manhattan, police arrested a handful of protesters for blocking traffic. Many more carried on, chanting their outrage.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #3: (Chanting) Undocumented and here to stay. Deport us? No way.
SIEGEL: Twenty-four-year-old year old Sarai Bravo has spent 20 of those years in the U.S. DACA has let her work legally. She's got a job at a digital marketing research company.
SARAI BRAVO: It's my livelihood. You know, I depend on supporting myself, providing back to this economy. You know, if I lose my job, you know...
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Chanting, unintelligible).
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #4: (Chanting, unintelligible).
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Chanting, unintelligible).
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #4: (Chanting, unintelligible).
SHAPIRO: She's drowned out by the protesters before she can finish that thought. But like many of those who turned out today, she believes this is just the beginning and that the fight for a permanent solution will continue. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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