The Supreme Court today rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) program. This is a major victory for DACA recipients who faced the threat of deportation, and it is a victory for the more than a quarter million children who have at least one parent who is a DACA recipient and faced the threat of family separation. It is also a victory for this nation, which is strengthened by our Dreamer families.
The 5-4 decision concluded that the Trump administration acted improperly in terminating DACA and sent the case back down to the Department of Homeland Security to consider the issue anew. This means that while the DACA program is safe for the foreseeable future, it leaves an opportunity for the Trump administration to again attempt to rescind the program and pursue an agenda of anti-immigrant cruelty. Many leaders in advocacy and industry have voiced their strong support for Dreamers, and the House of Representatives last year passed legislation offering Dreamers a path to citizenship, but action has stalled in the Senate. We must all continue to push for certainty and justice for these families.
And so our small boat moves onward, beating back the current of this wide sea. We celebrate that today DACA lives on, but we also square our shoulders for the work ahead. To our lawmakers, we remind you: Every child should have the opportunity to grow up in a safe, stable and loving family. You must create a permanent solution to this nation’s immigration crisis and ensure families can stay together. In October, we joined a friend-of-the-court brief representing the interests of DACA beneficiaries’ children. You can read that brief here.