Huge hurdles ahead for Dreamers despite high court’s DACA ruling

While grateful the U.S. Supreme Court thwarted President Trump’s effort to end DACA, its beneficiaries and their supporters know they still have a fight on their hands for permanent residency and citizenship.

“There’s always that fear that at any point in time it could be stopped or ended,” said Hector, a 28-year-old Mexican who came to the U.S. with his family in 2003, when he was 11. His last name is being withheld to protect his identity.

The Fredericksburg, Va., resident and Bluefield College graduate has been enrolled in DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — since the Obama administration rolled it out in 2012 to prevent the deportation of immigrants who entered the country illegally as children. The policy requires its users, known as Dreamers, to renew their registration every two years.

The Trump administration rescinded the policy in 2017, a move blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling on June 18.

“This was obviously amazing news,” Hector said. “But sometimes we just have to be realistic.”

The reality is that DACA’s renewal requirements mean Dreamers never can look beyond two years with any certainty because DACA does not provide a path to citizenship. Another reality is that the Trump administration and conservatives in Congress are eager to find ways to circumvent the program’s promises.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas condemned it as “shameless” and has blocked legislation by Senate Democrats to provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers, the Houston Chronicle reported.

But Democrats heralded the recent Supreme Court decision and have vowed efforts to make permanent the protections provided by DACA.

The U.S. public also supports the policy, according to a recent survey. A day before the Supreme Court decision, the Pew Research Center reported that 74% of Americans support granting permanent legal status to immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children.

Supporting those efforts is the next step even while celebrating the recent DACA ruling, said Sue Smith, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel and co-founder of LUCHA Ministries, a Fredericksburg, Va.-based nonprofit that ministers to immigrants struggling to adjust to life in the United States.

“I was elated when I heard the decision because it was so unexpected. It was not the direction I feared the Supreme Court was going to go,” Smith said.

But fear remains that the White House may seek new ways to circumvent DACA. And there is still a long way to go for Dreamers to receive a permanent solution to the policy, which really only avoids deportation in two-year stints, Smith noted. “The fight is not over.”

The prospect of deportation is especially terrifying for this group of immigrants because most do not remember their home countries, she added. “Deporting these young adults doesn’t make sense because they have moved forward and lead productive lives.”

But it’s still nice to have something to celebrate for a change, she added. “It restores my faith a little bit in how people are looking at immigrants these days.”

News of the court’s decision traveled quickly through Hispanic churches, said Jorge Zapata, associate coordinator of CBF Texas and director of immigrant relief for Fellowship Southwest.

Hispanic Christians praised God when they learned of the ruling because their ranks include many DACA recipients and their loved ones. “It is a victory for the students and their families because they have been living in limbo. We have been praying and advocating for them,” Zapata said.

But those who love and support Dreamers must get into action, he added. “We must write to our members of Congress and to our senators and we must continually talk about the DACA and what’s next.”

Failure to secure permanent protections for the Dreamers may result in their deportation after years spent living and working in the U.S.

Hector said he cannot imagine what a forced return to Mexico would look like for him. “I think it would be very hard to go back and start over at this age. But I especially worry about my brother, who came to America when he was 5.”