Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Ruling keeps DACA protections
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration may not immediately proceed with its plan to end a program protecting nearly 650,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children from deportation.
The decision found that the administration did not follow the procedures required by law and failed to consider how ending the program would affect those who had come to rely on its protections.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, joining the four liberal justices in the 5-4 ruling. Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
“We do not decide whether DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals) or its rescission are sound policies,” Roberts wrote. “We address only whether the (Department of Homeland Security) complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action.
“Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients.
That dual failure raises doubts about whether the agency appreciated the scope of its discretion or exercised that discretion in a reasonable manner.”
The ruling is a win for undocumented “Dreamers” brought to the country as children,\ and a blow to one of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises — that he would terminate an executive order by President Barack Obama that created the program in 2012.
DACA allows young people brought to the United States as children to apply for a temporary status that protects them from deportation and allows them to work legally as long as they follow the rules and have a clean record. The status lasts for two years and is renewable, but it does not provide a path to citizenship.
Pennsylvania is home to about 4,500 DACA recipients, according to 2019 data from the American Immigration Council.
Lawyers from the Trump administration argued the DACA program was unlawful and that the Department of Homeland Security has the right to end it.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs responded that the decision to rescind DACA was arbitrary and capricious. They also said it was unfair to use information about their immigration status that DACA applicants voluntarily provided to government against them.
The ruling provided a brief sigh of relief for Fatima Mendez.
Mendez moved to Berks County from El Salvador as a 14-year-old in 2006. She made the arduous journey to reunite with her parents, who received temporary permanent immigration status in 2001, after a devastating earthquake that hit their home country.
She applied for and received DACA status shortly after the program was created. The Muhlenberg Township resident said the Supreme Court decision gives her a small sense of security even though that comfort might not be permanent.
“It’s a relief knowing that the program is safe for now,” Mendez, now 29, said. “I honestly didn’t think that they were going to come down on our side. But I just wish this was a more definitive decision so that we can stop worrying about what’s going to happen next.”
Mendez, who earned a degree from Albright College, said being part of the program has enabled her to work at a local bank and contribute to her community. Without the program, she would face the possibility of being sent back to a country that she no longer remembers.
“The fear is there, but I think we learn to normalize those feelings because, at the end of the day, we have to live our lives,” she said. “We work, we pay taxes, we have families. If anything, I think immigrants live life more thankful because you realize that you could lose it at any moment.”
Myrna Fuchs said those fears are common among members of the program.
As a volunteer for the Greater Reading Immigration Project, Fuchs has spent the past eight years helping recipients of the program realize their goals by raising money to fund academic scholarships to attend college. She said the opportunity has given her a glimpse of the struggles undocumented families face every day.
“These families have been here for years, and the kids are doing great in school,” she said. “I see them doing everything that other families are doing: paying taxes, making sure their kids are learning, wanting a better future for the next generation. They do all this and have to live in fear.”
Fuchs said the ruling is something to celebrate. But she stressed a permanent solution must be found.
“We need legislation, we need to change our immigration laws, we need to find a pathway to citizenship,” she said. “This is something politicians have been talking about for years but nothing happens. I’m hoping with a new administration something finally changes.”
Immigration attorney Abraham Cepeda agrees that the fight for DACA needs to continue, particularly given the impact the program has had on Berks County.
Cepeda, who worked for the Community Justice Project in Reading when DACA first launched, estimated that he helped about 200 county residents enroll in the program. He said interest was and remains high among those who are looking for a shot at a better future.
“These young people have gone on to have successful careers,” he said. “It’s a blessing that they will continue to stay in the program because many that I know are contributing to their communities in really positive ways.”