DACA ruling weighs heavily on the minds of 'Dreamers,' immigration advocates
It’s another blow to the Obama-era program that gives some children illegally brought to the United States temporary legal status to work and go to school.
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A federal judge has declared Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals illegal, setting it up for a Supreme Court decision on the matter.
It’s another blow to the Obama-era program that gives some children illegally brought to the United States temporary legal status to work and go to school.
“Not surprising, but highly disappointing to the hundreds of thousands of young people who rely on that program,” says Elizabeth Mastropolo, managing attorney of Mount Kisco-based Neighbors Link.
The ruling extends the current injunction on DACA preventing the approval of any new applications but does not impact the ability of current DACA recipients to reapply for the program every two years as is required.
"It's not a way to live,” says DACA recipient Lisdy Contreras-Giron. “There is no long-term security in terms of our legal presence in the country and in terms of our jobs and employment."
Contreras-Giron, who lives in Mount Kisco and works as a paralegal, was brought to the U.S. illegally at the age of 5.
"We can't continue in this limbo, we are humans,” she says .” “They are playing our emotions, our feelings and this undermines humanity.”
Mastropolo says Congress needs to act and create a pathway to citizenship for the 25,000 DACA recipients living in New York.
“They don't know what’s going to happen one administration to the next and they really need and deserve action,” says Mastropolo.
