Victory! U.S. Supreme Court Keeps DACA Alive

Statement in Response to Supreme Court’s DACA Decision

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) applauds the ruling today from the U.S. Supreme Court halting the rescission of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Trump Administration, as part of its ongoing campaign to dismantle humanitarian immigration protections, has long-sought to end DACA to destabilize diverse communities across the country. 

The Supreme Court’s ruling allows DACA to continue. It also rebukes the Trump Administration for the unlawful and flawed process that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security used in rushing to improperly terminate DACA. 

As LCR argued in its Supreme Court amicus brief on behalf of prominent empirical scholars who study DACA and its effects, an adverse ruling would have devastated families, communities and economies across the country. This is particularly true for Massachusetts where 5,640 DACA recipients reside and are a vital and integral part of our schools, workplaces and communities. DACA currently protects over 700,000 people from deportation, and allows them to live, study, work, and raise children in the United States lawfully.  

DACA recipients also have a strong reliance interest in the program, as argued in an amicus brief filed by Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. on behalf of LCR’s community partners, including Centro Presente and Alianza Americas.

By continuing to protect DACA recipients, this ruling will help remedy some of the abuse and mistreatment that DACA recipients face across the country. Just weeks ago, LCR joined forces with Outten & Golden to file a lawsuit against SoFi for discriminating against DACA recipients. 

LCR now calls on elected officials to provide DACA recipients and other immigrants, including TPS recipients, with a pathway to citizenship.