A respite, not a decision, for DACA recipients from the Supreme Court
On Tuesday morning, Alix Gaby Cervantes was going through her daily routine of checking the news on her phone when she saw something unexpected: a CNN headline that said, “Supreme Court won’t hear Trump’s bid to end DACA program.”
As a 22-year-old DACA recipient in her senior year at CUNY Baruch College, Cervantes is used to the drama of immigration news, but with this news, she couldn’t help but giggle.
“I was so giddy when I read the headline,” said Cervantes. “These days I take pleasure in the smaller victories.”
Her excitement soon dissipated. Cervantes doubts that there will be a path to citizenship for DREAMers any time soon.
“An afterthought is: When will there be congressional action on immigration reform?” said Cervantes. “When will it be rescinded again?’’
The Supreme Court announced Feb. 26 that it will not hear the Trump administration’s request to appeal a California district court’s decision to resume DACA. That keeps the program alive for now, but no one can say for how long.
This is because Trump’s appeal was unusual — it asked the Supreme Court to skip the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and hear the case directly. Now that Trump’s appeal was rejected, the appeal still exists, and it will take months before it reaches the Supreme Court.
But what does this mean to DREAMers?
Anyone whose status expired before Oct. 5 can continue filing their renewal application, something they’ve been doing since Jan. 9 when a federal judge resumed the program. But what comes next is highly uncertain.
Vox reporter Dara Lind explained that the originally announced March 5 deadline is confusing; it dates back to last September when Trump decided to stop renewal applications.
“Right now, 120 DACA recipients are losing work permits a day, and after March, that number goes up to 400 plus,” said Lind. “Thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision, people who applied again may end up getting work permits at some point. But that also means a lot of people will be going without work permit for a couple of months, which means that they are vulnerable to deportation.”
Since it’s still not clear how long will it take the government to process and approve new DACA renewals, DREAMers are in limbo.
Immigration advocacy groups also are concerned about a prolonged fight.
Greisa Matinez Rosas, advocacy director for United We Dream, a youth-led immigration-rights organization, said she’s still mobilizing people to go to Washington, D.C., on March 5, the original deadline.
“Monday’s decision does not mean that all immigrant youths are safe,” said Rosas. “We need a permanent solution like the DREAM Act.”
Similarly, the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) is organizing a rally in Queens on the same day.
NYIC Executive Director Steven Choi said that the Supreme Court’s decision is just a “band-aid for the bigger problem,” and that a clean DREAM Act is needed so “all DREAMers can continue to hold jobs, get an education, and grow up free from worry.”
Others are wary. Korey Hughes, professor of political science at Baruch College, said it’s unlikely that her undocumented students can expect a final decision in the next few months.
“Given the recent failures of immigration legislation in the Senate, I don’t know if anything consequential happens before the midterm elections in November 2018,” said Hughes.
Cervantes is an active member of Baruch College’s Dream Team, a student club for undocumented students, and she said she is doing what she can to encourage her fellow DREAMers. Still, there is a sense of exhaustion.
“Within the last six months, there have been too many ‘deadlines’ for me to keep track of,” Cervantes said, “and this fight really didn’t start on September last year, it began Nov. 9, 2016,” referring to the day after Trump’s election. “I just prefer not to get my hopes up. That way I am less likely to become heartbroken or disappointed.”
