Immigrant rights defenders celebrated Friday after a federal judge delivered yet another blow to the Trump administration’s drawn-out effort to kill Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that protects certain undocumented residents who were brought to the United States as children from deportation.
Building on his November ruling that was similarly welcomed by right groups, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of Brooklyn ordered (pdf) the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to post a public notice by Monday that it is accepting new applications for DACA, which enables Dreamers to legally live and work in the country.
Garaufis, a Clinton appointee, also reiterated a determination he made in his ruling last month: Chad Wolf was not legally serving as acting secretary of DHS when he issued a July memo restricting DACA to those already enrolled in the program and limiting renewals and work permits to just a year rather than two.
I agree with jcitybone, that maybe some politicians and judges will be more likely to stand up for what’s right now, after Bernie’s campaign and Trump’s disastrous regime.
Wolf’s memo had come after the U.S. Supreme Court decided in June that the Trump administration cannot end DACA, which has benefited about 800,000 young undocumented immigrants. According to advocates, Garaufis’ order to fully restore the program could soon benefit hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
“This is a really big day for DACA recipients and immigrant young people,” Karen Tumlin, director of the Justice Action Center, who litigated the class-action case, told the New York Times. “It opens the door for more than a million immigrant youth who have been unfairly denied their chance to apply for DACA.”
More and tweets at the link.
I’m watching Carnival Row on Amazon Prime, where the Fae are the immigrants and there is a lot of the same kind of treatment. I love it when an exciting show works in social justice. Of course, the flying fae and other creatures don’t hurt, either. I’ll be departing soon for a bit, but please carry on, birdies!