The Supreme Court of the United States declared that Trump’s administration attempt to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, was arbitrary and capricious, and therefore, invalid and illegal. The court’s decision protects from deportation hundreds of thousands of young immigrants known as DREAMERS.
“Today we celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision to protect our dreamers from the cruel policies of the Trump administration. In an environment in which the majority of Americans, republicans, democrats, and independents, support protections for DACA recipients is appalling that we are still fighting racist policies and attitudes against the immigrant community, particularly our younger generation. Last Monday we celebrated the victory for our LGBTQ community and today we celebrate for our dreamers”, said Alicia Pagán, LULAC Ohio State Director.
In a public statement issued just moments after the SCOTUS announcement, Domingo García, National President of LULAC applauded the decision: “We congratulate the court for upholding one of the most important promises since the founding of our country for everyone. This decision recognizes the rightful place in America for the young people who are DACA recipients. They came here as children and this is the only home most of them have ever known. The United States is benefitting from their presence because everyday DACAmericans are earning an education, holding jobs and helping their own families as well as our nation. LULAC will continue to work so that they too can become U.S. citizens. We will never stop the fight for right.”
Sindy Benavides, LULAC’s National Chief Executive Officer reflected on what DACA’s decision means for our democracy: “Today’s decision is a win for our democracy and a win for America. This is a great day for our great country because close to 800,000 people protected by DACA have been granted an important step towards their rightful destiny, the opportunity to live free of fear in a place that has been home since they were young. We are not done yet because now we must make sure each of these individuals can become a citizen and continue to live, work and provide for themselves and their loved ones. The fight continues and we must exercise our voice and vote this November 3rd in order to change the current divisive discourse and future of our nation.”
In Ohio, there are nearly four thousand DACA recipients according the Migration Policy Institute. But it is estimated that more than 8,000 state residents are elegible for the DACA program. DACA protects from deportation people who arrived to the US when they were minors and provides these young dreamers opportunities for work and study, amongst other governmental services and protections. A poll conducted in 2018 showed that 87 percent of Americans believed that DACA recipients should be allowed to stay in the country as long as they were working or going to school.
“As a DACA recipient, tonight I will be able to sleep soundly knowing that we will continue to be protected from deportation and able to work and study in the U.S.,” said José Arnulfo Cabrera, director of education and advocacy for migration at the Ignatian Solidarity Network. “But this doesn’t mean that the fight is over. We must remember that DACA was created as a temporary protection for undocumented youth. We must continue to work for a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, undocumented youth, and our undocumented families, and begin to fix our broken immigration system.”