Hope building for immigrant protection

Immigrant-rights groups took to the steps of Colorado’s Supreme Court building Wednesday to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case concerning President Barack Obama’s executive action to protect some undocumented immigrant families from deportation.

Life-size puppets, posters and a theatrical role-play added a little life to the rally, which Gabriela Flora, a program director for the American Friends Service Committee, said shows their excitement about the progress.

“We want to be out on the street, and we want to celebrate that the case is being heard and that these governors who did the injunction are wrong,” Flora said. “What they’re trying to do goes against the moral fabric of what we say we stand for as a country.”

The Supreme Court’s decision came after a federal Guadalupe Lopez, who is facing deportation even though she and her husband have four children who are U.S. citizens, holds a photo of her family at a rally downtown on Wednesday. Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post appeals court filed an injunction last year, suspending the implementation of DAPA — the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program.

The program would give “individuals who, as of November 20, 2014, have a son or daughter who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident” the possibility to live and work legally in the U.S., according to court documents.

The appeals court ruled that the Obama administration overreached its authority when it made its executive decision to approve the program.

The high court will hear the case in the spring, and a decision is likely by June.

“This is so important to so many families,” said Arturo Hernandez Garcia during the rally.

“We know these next few months will be a period of waiting, but we’ve already waited a year for this and waited many more years before that.”

Garcia said he knows firsthand how important it is to keep families together. Garcia made news locally in 2014 when he sought shelter in a Denver church to avoid deportation following an unsuccessful petition to the government to allow him to stay.

“What these people seek is nothing more than to live their lives and support their families,” said the Rev. Mike Morran, a senior minister from First Unitarian Society of Denver and supporter of DAPA. “There is no us and them; it’s just us. All of us.”