Immigration advocates rip court ruling on DACA recipients

Immigration advocates in New York have decried a federal appeals court ruling in New Orleans that puts in further limbo the status of over a million Caribbean and other immigrants brought to the US as children.
On Wednesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit punted the case, Texas v. United States, back to the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas for consideration of the Biden administration’s final rule on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

DACA was instituted by former US President Barack Obama.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organization of more than 200 groups in New York State, on Wednesday urged permanent protections and a pathway to US citizenship for Caribbean and other immigrants who rely on DACA for their livelihoods, stating that their status continues to be “in jeopardy.”

“Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to punt the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program back to the lower courts cruelly keeps the futures of 1.2 million people in limbo, as they wait for relief,” NYIC’s Executive Director Murad Awawdeh told Caribbean Life.
“DACA has allowed immigrant youth to attend school, join the workforce and live free from fear of deportation,” he added. “To continuously shuttle DACA through different courts, keeping it in limbo, is to devalue and ignore the contributions this policy has made to our state and country.

“The future of our immigrant communities shouldn’t be left up to one court decision,” Awawdeh continued. “It should be enshrined in our nation’s laws.”
He urged legislators in Washington to “act now and provide permanent legal protections to DACA and TPS (Temporary Protected Status) recipients,” such as tens of thousands of Haitians, “and all those who call our country home but lack a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship.”
Chief Fifth Circuit Judge Priscilla Richman, who was nominated to the court by former US President George W. Bush, wrote in the appeals court’s opinion on Wednesday that “a district court is in the best position to review the administrative record in the rulemaking proceeding.”

The other panel members were judges – Kurt Engelhardt and James Ho – were appointed by former US President Donald J. Trump.
The appeals court’s decision came as part of a long string of court cases that have fought for the DACA program since the Trump administration attempted to terminate it in 2017.

In July 2021, US District Court Judge Andrew Hanen of Texas ruled that DACA was illegally implemented and barred the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from approving new DACA requests.
Hanen stayed a portion of his ruling, allowing DHS to continue processing DACA renewals while the appeal is pending.

The Biden administration appealed the decision at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (State of Texas v. USA).
“Once again, this court decision fails our community and leaves millions of immigrant youth and their families in continuous limbo — without any permanent relief,” Natalia Aristizabal Betancur, deputy director of Make the Road New York, an immigration advocacy group of more than 25,000 members in New York City, told Caribbean Life.

“This decision allows for current DACA recipients to continue to renew, but it does not reopen the processing of new applications, leaving out hundreds of thousands of DACA-eligible applicants,” she said.
Betancur also said that the court ruling “does nothing to protect DACA holders and their families in the long run”, noting that DACA has allowed “hundreds of thousands of youth the opportunity to work, pursue their careers and remain with their loved ones.
“For the past several years, immigrant youth have been in and out of courtrooms and on the streets putting their life on the line to keep the program alive,” she said. “But it is not enough for DACA to continue. DACA provides only temporary protection in two-year increments, without a pathway to citizenship, and even that protection now is more tenuous than ever.
“During this pivotal moment we call on Congress to use every tool at its disposal to deliver a permanent solution and pathway to citizenship,” Betancur added.

Angel Reyes Rivas, DACA recipient and organizer at Make the Road New York, said, “This decision is a reminder that we have been living with immense uncertainty and that we are unwilling pawns in a political game.
“We have survived relentless attacks on our communities, and our fight does not end here,” he added. “We will continue to vigorously demand a pathway to citizenship.
“For people like me and undocumented immigrants across the country to truly be protected, we need a permanent solution,” Reyes Rivas continued. “We urge the Biden administration and Congress to take immediate bold legislative action to deliver a pathway to citizenship for our community.”

NYIC said the New York metropolitan/Tri-State area is home to 38,000 DACA recipients.
Of these, NYIC said 81 percent are currently in the labor force, 92 percent have a high school diploma, 51 percent have some college education, 20 percent are married and 20 percent have children.
NYIC also said that more than 26,000 US citizens in New York live with DACA recipients.