Washington, D.C. – Today marks the 11 year anniversary of the announcement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Since its inception in 2012, the program has been under Republican-led attacks, from the Trump administration trying to rescind DACA in 2017 – ultimately failing at the Supreme Court – to the current Texas v. United States case being led by nine Republican Attorneys General.
These attacks on the DACA program are attacks on the freedom to move and live without fear, which would take away work permits and protections from nearly 600,000 current DACA recipients and their families who depend on them. These attacks also have denied the ability of tens of thousands of DACA eligible young people from benefiting from the program.
Bruna Bouhid-Sollod, Senior Communications and Political Director of United We Dream Action, said:
“As we mark this 11 year anniversary of DACA it’s important to remember the strength, resilience, and power of immigrant communities who fought for the protections from deportation and work permits that DACA provides. For over a decade DACA has given immigrant youth the freedom to go to college, get a drivers license, provide for themselves and their family, and in some cases even leave the country and return home through advance parole.
Unfortunately, almost since the inception of the program, an extremist few have been hellbent on overturning our victory and taking away work permits and protections from deportations. While their efforts have been largely unsuccessful, in 2021 a court in Texas ruled against the DACA program, halting new first time applications and leaving tens of thousands of first-time DACA eligible youth in limbo, denying them ability to benefit from the program. These are the same few who are working to take away our freedom to get an abortion, the freedom to express ourselves and the freedom to learn the truth about our history.
While over half a dozen MAGA Republicans vie for the GOP nomination for president it’s important to remember the real life impact these candidates would have if they were president. As the far right continues to fight against DACA and young immigrants in court, a Supreme Court ruling on DACA feels inevitable. It’s clear that no presidential candidate who wants to end DACA and upend the lives of immigrant youth should be anywhere near the White House.”