For these working stiffs, ambivalence rather than amore from the Pope
- Apr 18, 2021
For Cinthia Padilla Ortiz, the Supreme Court’s recent decision on the DACA program was “an unexpected and beautiful moment” and left her feeling “that sense of hope in our community.”
DACA recipients and advocates breathed a collective sigh of surprised relief June 18 when the Supreme Court ruled against efforts by the Trump administration to end the immigration program that has hung in the balance for the past three years.
On June 18, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling said President Donald Trump could not stop the program with his 2017 executive order. DACA protects about 700,000 young people who qualify for the program from deportation and allows them to work, go to college, get health insurance and obtain a driver’s license.
DACA’s continuance had been in question as the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether President Donald Trump’s 2017 executive order ending the program was constitutional. President Barack Obama established DACA by executive order in 2012 to allowed young people brought into the country illegally as minors by their parents to stay in the United States.
Before college student Luz Chavez left her Gaithersburg, Maryland, home June 18 to hear a decision on the steps of the Supreme Court of the United States, her mother prayed for an outcome favorable to her daughter, whose ability to study, work and not be deported at some point soon hinged on what the justices had to say.
The U.S. Department of Education said federal financial relief for coronavirus for higher education is meant for U.S. citizens, prompting protests from students enrolled in colleges and universities under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
Three young adults of the estimated 700,000 with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status remain undaunted after years of little to no action on their behalf in Congress and the courts, including the Nov. 12 Supreme Court hearing that could permit the Trump administration to cancel the program.
In a high-stakes issue before the Supreme Court Nov. 12, it was not clear how the justices will ultimately resolve the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA.