WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2021) US Senate Democrats are in a position to save the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program but must act quickly because applicants are in a dire situation in the wake of a devastating Federal court decision, beneficiaries and activists told Sputnik.
In a ruling on July 16, US District Court Judge Andrew Hanen outlawed DACA, a program that temporarily protects immigrants brought to the United States before the age of 16, who are often referred to as "Dreamers," due to the previous DREAM Act. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are pushing to include protections for DACA recipients in a $1.2 trillion infrastructure reconciliation bill, including $120 billion to create a pathway to citizenship.
"For new applicants, the situation is dire," The UndocuBlack Network (UBN) Co-Director Patrice Lawrence told Sputnik. "There will be no granting of new applications, no processing, no biometrics for new applicants... All this has been giving DACA people whiplash."
Lawrence, a Jamaican immigrant, said Congress could fix this with a "stroke of the pen," saying that there is still a good chance of including these changes in new legislation.
Center for American Progress Immigration Policy Managing Director Philip Wolgin warned that the ruling shuts some 80,000 applicants out of the DACA program, which only underscores the need for this legislation to get through.
However, Wolgin is optimistic the Democrats could pass something to rescue DACA given they only need a majority because they are using the reconciliation process to bypass the 60-vote threshold filibuster.
The 100-member Senate is evenly divided between parties, but the Democrats can get to 51 because Vice President Kamala Harris, who presides over the chamber, casts tie-breaking votes when necessary.
Wolgin said the current situation is much more preferable than trying to persuade ten Senate Republicans to back the measure, considering it is the party of Trump "who ran on an anti-immigrant and xenophobic platform."
"It's doable and should happen... We have a whole [Democratic] caucus and Senate who support reconciliation," Wolgin told Sputnik. "The stars are aligning,"
Immigrants themselves, however, are less optimistic and see the future shrouded by uncertainty.
Ronnie James, a DACA recipient who will have to renew his work permit next year, said "it's unsure waters" with the program being cancelled. James said in he was working on Capitol Hill and saw the Dream and Promise Act fail to pass in the Senate in 2019.
"We've been policy-dependent on progressives and Democrats but we still see a lack of movement," James told Sputnik. "Similar language is being used in the Infrastructure bill. We've been in these political spaces."
Besides, when Democrats held the House and Senate previously they failed to get something through, James added. And similar programs were struck down by the US Supreme Court during the Obama administration.
"Neither side has been capable of producing a law that is of benefit to immigrants. They promise something and we're strung along. 2001 was the first Dream Act. It's been 20 years for me, longer for those in the '80s and '90s," James said.
Erika, an immigrant from El Salvador, is another DACA recipient at risk. She said the DACA program allowed her to get vocational training and become a medical assistant. However, she got laid off on July 13 because her permit expired.
"It's been more than 120 days since I submitted my application and I continue to wait for the approval," she told Sputnik.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans are not likely to back any DACA legislation without addressing the surge in illegal immigrants at the border.
DACA was launched by the Obama administration in 2012. It permits children of illegal immigrants, who were brought to the United States under the age of 16, to remain in the country, provided they had arrived by 2007. The program does not currently provide permanent lawful status to its recipients but has protected some 700,000 young people from deportation.
Former President Donald Trump tried to end the program but the US Supreme Court blocked his administration's effort. After taking office in January, President Joe Biden promised to preserve the program.
