A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear a case that ruled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program unlawful is a small victory for local DACA recipients.
After President Donald Trump’s administration announced the end of DACA, an Obama-era program that provides protection for about 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children, two lower courts blocked the government from ending it.
Trump’s administration went directly to the Supreme Court to try to get those rulings overturned, skipping a federal court of appeals. The high court ruled Monday that an appeals court should hear the case first. This means DACA won’t be rescinded by Trump’s stated deadline of March 5.
However, Gina John, advocacy coordinator at Latino Memphis, said the fight isn’t over.
“There is still no permanent protections for DACA recipients and without it, the same patterns of traumatizing young people with the threat of deportation will continue,” John said. “This decision is a step in the right direction but finding a legislative solution is the end goal.”
When Trump’s administration announced the end of the program in September, he gave Congress until March to construct new immigration legislation. Now, that date is null and void, and DACA recipients will continue to be protected likely for another year.
Stephanie Teatro, co-executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said the Supreme Court’s decision is only a temporary victory for Tennessee’s 8,400 DACA recipients.
“The court’s decision allows some young immigrants to renew their DACA, for now, but it does not resolve the crisis at hand,” Teatro said. “DACA recipients, their families, and their employees shouldn’t live from deadline to deadline with their futures in limbo.
“Congress must pass the Dream Act now.”
