The Trump Administration’s appeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program won’t be heard by the Supreme Court.
DACA protects from immediate deportation about 700,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. President Trump wanted the program shut down by March 5, but the ruling means that Trump’s challenge must first go through an appeals court. Immigration attorney Omar Salguero says this means current DACA recipients still have a chance to renew their work permits.
“A work permit is an extremely important document for immigrants because they can get social security numbers, drivers licenses, and of course obtain legal authorization to work in the U.S. For them, the ability to renew that is tremendous," he said.
Salguero says the decision buys DACA recipients some time. But Ben Monterroso, Executive Director of Mi Familia Vota, a Latino voter engagement organization, says this doesn't help everyone.
"Unfortunately, DACA holders facing earlier expiration dates already have lost their permits, numbering at least 1,000 per day," he said.
Salguero says this also won't stop Trump's appeal process.
“We’re a little bit concerned of the final decision, particularly if it makes it to the Supreme Court," he said. "So we need to continue activism, work in our communities, hopefully push Congress to act and solve this problem for good.”