Sixteen attorneys general from 15 states and Washington, D.C., have filed a legal brief in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, saying in a statement that its termination “wouldn’t just devastate the lives of the grantees who rely on the program,” but it would “also harm public safety, national security, research institutions and our economy,” New Mexico attorney general Hector Balderas’ office said.
The matter of how the Trump administration decided to end the popular program that has benefitted hundreds of thousands of young immigrants will be going before the Supreme Court this fall. Donald Trump had said from the start of his campaign that DACA had to go because, well, immigrants and Barack Obama, with his administration ultimately claiming that it was created "without proper statutory authority."
But “the legal authority for the Executive Branch to operate DACA,” over 100 law professors told Trump in a 2017 letter, “is crystal clear.” In their statement, the attorneys general—from Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington—and the governor of Colorado say that the administration’s rescission of the program “was based on a faulty legal analysis.”
In a statement regarding a separate legal brief also signed by the attorneys general of Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said, “The Trump administration continues to hide behind the flimsy excuse that their hands were tied and they had to end DACA. The truth is there is no basis for that conclusion.”
A number of cities have also added their support for DACA, most recently Fresno, California. Councilman Miguel Arias said that DACA recipients’ loss of work permits would have a devastating impact not only on their families, but on entire communities. “It will be a direct and financial impact to our city,” he said. In California alone, the Center for American Progress says, DACA recipients pay $1 billion in local and state taxes.
Of course, the human costs of these families falling vulnerable to deportation are incalculable, and young immigrants are becoming increasingly worried as the program heads to the Supreme Court. In a recent survey of DACA recipients, “56 percent of respondents reported that they think about either being detained in an immigration detention facility or deported from the United States at least once a day.”
This is no way to live. A bill to protect these families has passed the House, but with Sen. Mitch McConnell refusing to pick it up, they hope the courts can help keep them together. “Dreamers who have called America home for decades contribute significantly to our communities as teachers, first responders, entrepreneurs, and so much more,” Becerra said. “Many of them know no other home than the United States. With our partners around the country, we’re standing up for the rule of law and the promise of the American dream.”