SCOTUS won't hear DACA case this term. What does that mean for 'Dreamers?'

SCOTUS won't hear DACA case this term. What does that mean for 'Dreamers?'

Monsy Alvarado, North Jersey Record
Published 1:31 p.m. ET Jan. 22, 2019

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/677...t=405&fit=cropDACA Dreamers from all over the country began a 240-mile walk from New York to Washington, D.C., last month, on their quest to get a permanent legislative fix for Dreamers. They are seen here in Jersey City. (Photo: Marko Georgiev/NorthJersey.com)


The Obama-era executive order that shields some undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children from deportation will remain for now after the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday took no action to hear a request by the Trump administration to review a case challenging the program.

But the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, which was created in 2012, still remains uncertain, leaving those in New Jersey who benefit from the program in continued limbo.

"Do they prepare themselves to live a life relegated to shadows they walked out of 7 years ago in the US? Or do they prepare themselves to go back to a country they barely know?'' said Brian Lozano, a community organizer for Wind of the Spirit, an organization based in Morristown that lobbies for DACA recipients and other immigrants. "Those are the practical questions that linger. And those considerations are present around the clock. I've witnessed those considerations trigger anxiety and panic attacks in community members."

Because the Supreme Court took no action on the case, it means those with DACA can continue to renew their two-year protections, as well as work permits. The Supreme Court is scheduled to meet again Feb. 15 to decide which cases it will hear in the fall.

"This is good news today, but the continuing crisis, 'Dreamers' having to live court date to court date is not going to end just because the Supreme Court hasn't taken it up'' said Sara Cullinane, of Make the Road New Jersey. "We are getting calls from people concerned about the future of the program."

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d65...t=405&fit=cropDemonstrators Karina Velasco, left, and Gabi Sanchez hold a sign during an immigration rally in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status programs on Capitol Hill in Washington in December. (Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP)


President Donald Trump's administration announced it would end DACA in September 2017, but federal court decisions have blocked him from terminating the program. On Saturday, Trump included DACA as part of an offer to end the partial government shutdown, the longest in the country's history. Trump's offer, in part, included a three-year extension of DACA in return for $5.7 billion for a border wall. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the offer a "non-starter."

On Tuesday, some DACA holders in New Jersey continued their calls for comprehensive immigration reform, that includes elements of the Dream Act, a legislative proposal that called for granting legal residency for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children.

"A proper way to handle the DACA situation is to revisit the Dream Act and turn the temporary fix, DACA, into a well developed, bipartisan deal that provides a path to citizenship for DACA recipients,'' said Joana Costa of Union, a DACA recipient.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/cc9...t=405&fit=cropBrian Lozano of Wind of the Spirit leads a chant during a rally in Morristown May 5, 2018 to support Hondurans losing TPS. (Photo: Joshua Jongsma/NorthJersey.com)


Esder Chong, of New Brunswick, said her first reaction was that it was great news, because it allows her to keep her DACA status, but she was also reminded of how precarious the situation is for her and others in the undocumented community.
“I don’t think people understand how DACA affects our daily lives when it is politicized in the news,’’ she said. “I’m still not going to be satisfied in the sense of safety and belonging, without some sort of permanent legislative solution to legally acknowledge my humanity in the country that I call home.”

She said Trump's latest offer was a reminder of how much still needs to be done to find a solution.


“The shutdown is a clear example of how stuck we are, in terms of moving forward, in terms of immigration reform,’’ she said. “For me, the wall is just not some kind of physical architecture, but really a message from a country I call home that immigrants, which encompasses more than just DACA, that they are just not welcomed here, and I don’t think people in the government realize that the immigrant community is more than DACA.”

Cullinane, of Make the Road New Jersey, said Trump is holding DACA recipients hostage.
"In reality, we see the Trump administration taking advantage of this uncertainty with the courts to push an anti-immigrant agenda,'' she said. "Trump ended DACA, he created this crisis, and what we really need is for DACA to be reinstated, and to have a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and others."

There are about 700,000 undocumented immigrants who currently have DACA, including more than 17,000 from New Jersey.

DACA was created in 2012 under President Barack Obama and allows those who qualify to receive Social Security numbers as well as work permits and temporary protection from deportation.

The program does not provide a path to citizenship, but it allows qualifying undocumented immigrants to live and work legally in the United States and, in some states, including New Jersey, apply for driver’s licenses without fear of deportation.

Critics of the program said that Obama overstepped his authority.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/ne...rs/2644217002/

A country they "barely know" is not a case for allowing them to stay. We are a Nation of Laws...not a Nation of Feelings & Lawlessness.

They are not children anymore and are full grown adults, many full grown adults and children manage to move all over the world to "countries and languages they do not know", whether for work or in the military or permanent residence and they do so legally.

Illegal aliens come here every day to a "country and language they do not know" and seem to do just fine by finding their way to the welfare, food stamp office, hospital to have an anchor baby and into our schools. They manage to get housing being here illegally and get jobs in a "country they do not know".

They did not "know" they cannot vote either but they still do...LOL.

If the very thought of keeping them here and not send them to a "country they do not know"...then that should be the case to turn them all away at the border...because after all..."the United States is a country and language THEY do not know" so they should not be allowed in.

Send them home...they will get to "know" their country as quickly as the illegals got to "know" ours and game the system.