BIRMINGHAM, AL (June 18th, 2020) – The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ) applauds the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of continuing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
“We are very happy for the ‘Dreamers’ who have been in legal limbo since Trump’s attempt to cut DACA in 2017. This victory gives relief to the youth who have been living with great fear and anxiety,” said Ana Delia Espino, ACIJ. “We urge further immigration reforms to find a way for DACA recipients to have a pathway to citizenship.”
DACA was created for foreign-born children who were brought into the U.S. before their 16th birthday and were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012. When enrolled, they are eligible for a work permit and postponement of their removal from the United States. The permit has to be renewed every two years. We have over 11,000 DACA recipients in Alabama, and there are over 600,000 across the U.S.
“Finally all of the anxiety and fear from the past few months leading up to this decision, can be stopped. So many emotions came all at once while looking at the SCOTUS blog where they were releasing the decision, it can’t be helped since we aren’t only worrying about ourselves but of our parents, our siblings, our nieces/nephews/kids, our friends and our romantic partners. I am glad to see that the Supreme Court justices ruled in favor of us DACA recipients but we must keep fighting for a comprehensive immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship for not just us, but for our parents as well. In the meantime though, this is a big win for us.” said Evelyne Rivera, ACIJ’s Northern Regional Organizer and DACA recipient.”
# # #