Social media show netizens’ overwhelming support for DACA

NEW YORK — As Americans digest the news of the Trump administration’s intention to phase out DACA, a program that had protected nearly 800,000 young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, social media continue to buzz.

As of Tuesday afternoon (1:30 p.m. EDT), there were 1.3 million mentions of DACA in social media over a weeklong period, but this afternoon, Wednesday, (by 12:30 p.m.) that number has climbed to 7.9 million, according to international social media analytics firm Talkwalker.

And while there are two sides to every argument, it is clear which way America’s opinion is trending by analyzing the top hashtags related to DACA.  #DefendDACA has been mentioned nearly 610,000 times versus #EndDACA with just over 70,000 mentions.

Further, additional hashtags like #DREAMers, with 334,000 mentions, #HereToStay with 88,000, #DefendDreamers with almost 39,000 and #SaveDACA with more than 33,000 are outpacing those supporting the decision like #MAGA with more than 114,000 and  #AmericaFirst with just under 25,000 and #TrumpTrain with just over 12,000.

Among the top trending social posts is this Tweet from comedian Stephen Colbert which garnered more than 138,000 likes.  https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome/status/905236489663119361

Additionally, many social posts are instructional for those who fall under DACA, like this one from @isaiasreyna. https://twitter.com/isaiasreyna/status/905088455486660610