Advocates are advising beneficiaries of a program that protects illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to renew their status immediately, if eligible, because of President-elect Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations.
Just a fraction of an estimated 3.6 million illegal immigrants brought to the country as children (called Dreamers) have sought legal protection under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Obama-era policy protects qualifying Dreamers by temporarily shielding them from deportation and providing them work authorization with possible renewal every two years.
Areli Hernandez, external affairs director at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, told Axios that enrollees should make sure they know where their DACA card is and renew it if they can.
"Business leaders will also have to show leadership for their workers, they will have to show leadership for members of their community who are part of the workforce," Hernandez said. "DACA beneficiaries are teachers, they're nurses, they are working in communities that need them."
Immigrant advocacy groups began preparing for another Trump presidency long before Election Day.
"We weren't going to get caught by surprise again," Juliana Regina Macedo do Nascimento, deputy director of federal advocacy for United We Dream, told Axios.
During his first term, Trump tried to end DACA in 2017. But the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, ruled in 2020 the Trump administration did not provide a reasoned explanation for ending DACA. But the court's ruling allowed the administration to make another attempt to end the program if it used proper administrative procedures, including a well-reasoned explanation for its actions.
In 2018, Texas and seven other states challenged the validity and constitutionality of DACA, using economic issues to establish standing, according to the National Law Review. Texas won at the district court level, and the case has been moving through various stages and appeals.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has been permitted to extend DACA for individuals who already have it, but it cannot grant any new initial applications based on the court's ruling.
About 530,000 of those eligible are currently protected under DACA, according to Axios. At the program's height, about 800,000 were enrolled.
After the district court's initial decision, the Biden administration tried to strengthen DACA, but its final rule was challenged, and it ended back in the district court, according to the National Law Review. The court ruled against DACA, and the case was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. The appeals court heard oral arguments early last month and has yet to render a decision.
Macedo do Nascimento's organization is preparing to be on defense against a GOP-led White House and Congress, as well as a conservative Supreme Court, in addition to existing litigation against the program, according to Axios.
"We are resilient, and we will do everything we can to defend ourselves and protect our people," said Macedo do Nascimento, a DACA recipient originally from Brazil. "Our home is here, and we mean it."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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