On November 12, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments around the Trump Administration’s termination of DACA. The justices could issue a decision any time between now and June 2020, and this could have life-altering implications for the more than 700,000 Dreamers who call the United States home.
Here’s what you need to know as the Supreme Court justices deliberate.
“Lower courts have already found DACA to be both legal and constitutional.”
Lower courts have already found DACA to be both legal and constitutional. The Supreme Court will soon decide the fate of nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants who came to this country as children. The justices should confirm the lower court rulings and reject the Trump Administration's efforts to terminate this successful program. The Supreme Court can stop the Administration from putting hundreds of thousands of people who grew up in this country at risk of deportation.
“DACA recipients are still able to submit renewal applications”
We know that the Supreme Court could issue a ruling between now and June of 2020. For now, DACA recipients are still able to submit renewal applications, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is still accepting DACA renewal applications from anyone who currently has, or previously had, DACA.
Dreamers own homes, start businesses that employ native-born Americans, and pay billions of dollars in taxes every year. 89% of DACA recipients are employed (91% among those 25 and older), and 58% moved to a better-paying job after receiving DACA. If DACA were to end, the U.S. would lose out on the $2 billion contributed annually to Social Security by Dreamers, the $470 million they pay into Medicare, and the $1 trillion that would be added to U.S. GDP over the next decade if permanent protections are passed. DACA recipients’ futures should be determined by a legislative solution — not court case to court case.
Over 256,000 U.S. citizen children have DACA recipient parents, which makes the Administration’s repeated attempts to end DACA all part of the same cruel and inhumane family separation agenda — the same agenda that led to the family separation crisis at the border. This is why a Supreme Court decision is so important — it could prevent DACA from ending and protect thousands of families.
“More than 1,400 organizations and leaders have signed amicus briefs backing DACA at the Supreme Court.”
Hundreds of higher education institutions, educators, parents, health care professionals, law enforcement officials, business leaders, elected leaders, states, cities and counties, national security leaders, civil rights organizations, former government officials, academics and scholars, labor unions, legal experts, DACA recipients, and many others filed over three dozen amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court rulings that have required the Department of Homeland Security to continue processing renewal applications under DACA.
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