Dreamers across the United States awoke today to favorable and much awaited news regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. The Supreme Court of the United States, in a 5-4 decision, ruled against President Trump’s move to end the program.
NM Comunidades en Acción y de Fe (CAFe) Leaders with DACA are celebrating this morning, while also noting that this is a small win for the 11 million Undncomented Americans who still remain unprotected from detention and deportation.
Brenda Martinez, CAFe Leader and DACA recipient, says, “I’m still crying. I was not expecting this under the current administration. This just proves that we as people have power. I am so thankful and grateful for every single person that has stood with us and will continue to stand with us through the fight ahead. Gracias a todos, may God bless us all.”
There are an estimated 800,000 current DACA holders and thousands more immigrant youth who are DACA eligible in the United States. According to the Migration Policy Institute, New Mexico has approximately 5,700 DACA recipients and about 8,000 are DACA eligible. In New Mexico’s Congressional District 2 there are about 2,800 DACA recipients and 4,600 DACA eligible young people. It is estimated that CD2 would see an annual GDP loss of about $163,600,000 if workers with DACA were to be removed.
Another Las Cruces Dreamer and Leader with NM CAFe, Viviana Arciniega, said “I feel happy, and overwhelmed with emotions. I am amazed at this unexpected decision, but it makes me feel that we were heard and our work has not been in vain. The fight is still not over, but for now this is a huge achievement.”
NM CAFe will continue to stand with Dreamers in the fight for permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for all undocmented families.
Allex Luna, Lead Organizer with NM CAFe, says, “This fight has been long and difficult, we know that too often Dreamers are faced with a sinister choice of protections for themselves, but not their families. For Border Dreamers, that choice has been twice as hard, having to always fight against unfair trade offs like protections from deportation in exchange for more funds to militarize and wall off their communities. While this fight is not yet over, today we celebrate this win with our leaders and their families.”
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NM Comunidades en Acción y de Fe (CAFe) is a non-partisan, non-profit immigrant and worker led organization working to build power with and for underrepresented communities throughout Southern New Mexico.
From: KRWG
https://www.krwg.org/post/las-cruces-area-dreamers-respond-daca-decision-supreme-court
