For Immediate Release //

September 14th, 2023

Contact: Tamara Marquez, 562-212-2664, tamara@ic4ij.org

San Bernardino, CA – Yesterday September 13, 2023, federal Judge Andrew Hanen, ruled against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Judge Hanen declared DACA as unlawful, however renewal applications are allowed to continue. New DACA applications can be submitted but will not be processed due to the litigation. As of now, the case will be reviewed by the Fifth Circuit of Appeals in 2024.

In 2012, immigrant youth fought earnestly to win DACA, however the fight has been continuous as our federal elected leaders have failed to provide a permanent pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people. While DACA has helped hundreds of thousands of immigrant young people, it has also brought uncertainty and severe levels of anxiety for the more than 600,000 DACA recipients. 

In the last couple of years the conservatives have used the Texas Court to batter DACA from a legal standpoint leaving the future of immigrants unclear and with a deep fear of deportation.

 The fact of the matter is, we’re tired of asking, we’ve been asking for 11 years, now that time is over, now we are DEMANDING our congressional and senate leaders take action to codify DACA and create a permanent pathway to citizenship. The time to act is NOW, we cannot wait for a Supreme Court decision, our immigrant communities deserve DACA and so much more.

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