#HomeIsHere: Lessons on DACA from the Rally Outside the Supreme Court
Jenifer Guzman is Community Advocate at the Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) Immigration Project.
On November 12, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments regarding the federal government’s termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Outside the court during the hearing, hundreds of demonstrators from different states braved the cold and rain. They showed their support for DACA recipients and immigrants through thunderous chants, urging the court to protect DACA. Many were DACA recipients themselves, who stood in front of the podium to share their stories and let the court know that for them, “Home Is Here.”
As a Community Advocate at Volunteers of Legal Services (VOLS), I was able to represent our support for the cause as a marshal outside the Supreme Court. In preparation, I attended training with the New York Immigration Coalition. At 3 am on the day of the hearing, I was ready to take off on a bus from Brooklyn to Washington DC with members from other nonprofit organizations such as Atlas DIY and our partner organization Mixteca.
However, a group of young people started their journey even earlier.
On October 26, a kick-off rally for the “Home is Here” march took place at Battery Park. That day, a group of DACA recipients, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients, and allies began their 230-mile on-foot journey to Washington, D.C., to demand that the Supreme Court defend DACA, and that Congress pass a permanent legislative solution to protect TPS and to advocate for citizenship for all.
Among the marchers was Eliana Fernandez, 31, a mother, DACA recipient, community organizer, and a plaintiff in the case at the Supreme Court in Make the Road NY’s lawsuit — McAleenan v. Vidal. Eliana marched because without DACA, everything she has worked for in the last 17 years could be lost. She told NY Daily News,
“I won’t be able to work … I won’t be able to pay off my mortgage. My biggest concern as a parent is losing deportation protections. It’s something I worry about on a daily basis. What will happen if I’m taken away from my kids?”
DACA was established in 2012 by former President Barack Obama as a result of a 20-year fight for legislative immigration reform that has still failed to pass. The program provided young people, known as Dreamers, protection from deportation and allowed them to legally work in the United States.
It does not offer a path to citizenship. Instead, DACA provides a two-year renewable permit with a fee of $495 (currently proposed to increase to $765).
In 2017, the Trump Administration rescinded the program. In response, thousands protested on the streets and dozens of Dreamers and allies across the country sued to block the rescission of DACA. The lawsuits have worked their way up to the Supreme Court, where the fate of 700,000 DACA recipients is in the hands of nine justices. A final decision can be issued at any time between January and June of 2020.
From the marching from New York to Washington, D.C., to the inspiring rally outside SCOTUS, it is clear that DREAMers will continue to work and fight to secure the futures of their community. Because for them, Home is Here.
This holiday season, please consider a donation to VOLS, so that we can continue our work representing and empowering immigrants. Click here to donate.
DACA was never a permanent solution.
DACA allowed young people to stop and take a breath of relief. DACA empowered youth to come out of the shadows, willingly hand over their information to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and tell their stories often contrary to the advice and lived in experience provided by their parents. DACA recipients are not willing to aide their oppression by retreating back into the shadows.
At the rally there was a moment of acknowledgment, recognizing that after the implementation of DACA, the movement became partially complacent with a temporary fix.
Living life in two-year intervals was never enough. The idealization of Dreamers as straight A+ students in Ivy League schools, in the long run, became a detrimental strategy. It unintentionally threw parents under the bus, facilitating their portrayal as criminals at fault for the status of their children. It also created a divide between the idealized student and the student struggling in school, deeming one more worthy of protection over the other.
In reality, it was the parents who were the first Dreamers, who continue to sacrifice so much so that their children can stand on their shoulders. The good versus bad immigrant rhetoric has made us prone to forget that we are dealing with the lives of human beings.
As stated by one of the speakers Marissa Molina from Fwd.US:
“DACA has never been about being the first one to go to college… it is about not being the only one.
DACA has been an opportunity to liberate our passions, unleash our dreams and use them for the good of our community in the country we all call home…
This fight is much bigger than any one of us. It is about… keeping our families together, fighting for those that did not qualify for DACA, fighting for the 11 million people in our community that are undocumented and still waiting.”
For many, it has been difficult to remain optimistic that DACA will be protected, as the court has a conservative majority. However, DACA recipients are not willing to give up; they have so much to lose, as does this nation if they were to be deported. Along the way, there have been lessons learned from the previous generation of Dreamers.
As DACA recipient and actor Bambadjan Bamba from the film, Black Panther said,
“Even among undocumented circles, we can have challenges with diversity. We have half a million undocumented black people in this nation. So immigration is not just a Latino issue it is also an African issue, Korean issue, Asian issue, Indian issue, an American issue!”
Mr. Bamba’s remark conveyed the complex intersectionality within immigration. Calling attention to groups that are often left out of the immigration conversation, and for whom resources may not be as widely available. Mr. Bamba urged Dreamers to share their powerful stories for their right to stay in the U.S because for many “Home Is Here.”
The rally in front of SCOTUS was not just for DACA.
The rally was also in support of TPS recipients from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan whose protection was set to expire in January 2020, but has recently been extended through January 4, 2021. The Trump Administration has attempted to end the program for these countries since 2018, but it has been blocked by court proceedings and appeals.
The rally was also in support of possible DACA eligible recipients who cannot apply for the program because no new applications are being accepted. If the program were to be reinstated, many new young people would be eligible to apply.
The greatest lesson learned from the current attack on DACA is that no one is safe under this Administration.
The first thing I saw when I got off the bus in Washington D.C, was President Trump’s tweet, “Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from “angels.” Some are very tough, hardened criminals.”
For starters, his tweet is simply wrong. Federal guidelines prohibit individuals convicted of felonies, significant, numerous misdemeanors or deemed to pose a threat to national security or public safety from qualifying for the program. His tweet was an attempt to justify his termination of DACA to the public.
The President’s fearmongering attempt to criminalize DACA recipients on the morning of the oral hearing did not distract from the powerful emotions and energy felt by thousands of DACA recipients, TPS recipients, undocumented advocates, and allies rallying together in solidarity.
It was an honor for me to be among the crowd, as we uplifted each other’s spirits as the fight for citizenship for all continues.
At the moment, no one can predict what the court's final decision will be. The best way to prepare is to be ready for all possible outcomes.
It is important for DACA recipients to renew and if you are not a DACA recipient spread the word and help others renew! VOLS Immigration Project has rolled out an emergency initiative to provide legal services to help as many people renew. It is important to note that the Department of Homeland Security has proposed a fee increase for DACA renewals that would bring the total cost from $495 to $765. This is a significant increase from the already high fee. This escalates the urgency for individuals to submit their renewals before the fee change goes into effect.
If you need help with DACA, call the VOLS Immigration Project Hotline at 347–521–5722 or visit https://volsprobono.org/projects/vols-immigration-project.
This holiday season, please consider a donation to VOLS, so that we can continue our work representing and empowering immigrants. Click here to donate to VOLS.
