WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Texas, a lawsuit that has temporarily blocked the Obama administration from implementing an expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and creating the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. NCLR (National Council of La Raza) joined thousands of advocates and families who have been directly impacted by the injunction outside the courthouse to rally support for the president’s executive actions on immigration.
“The presence of thousands of people at the Supreme Court today demonstrates both how many families are impacted by this needless delay and how important it is to let these programs go forward, not only to our community, but also to our economy and our country,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO. “Presidents on both sides of the aisle, on many occasions, have set a clear precedent for the use of executive action to shield people from unnecessary deportations. We hope and expect that reason and precedent win the day.”
Consider the case of José, a young man who came to the United States when he was 9 years old. Despite living and attending school in the United States since he was a young child, José did not qualify for the original DACA policy because he arrived 3 weeks after the DACA eligibility cut-off date of June 15, 2007. After hearing about the expansion of DACA in November 2014, José and his mother visited NCLR Affiliate, CARECEN, which determined that he was eligible to apply for expanded DACA. CARECEN helped him gather the required documentation to prove eligibility and José was scheduled to have his application completed the day after expanded DACA was halted due to the injunction at the federal court in Texas.
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.