MIAMI (WSVN) - The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s push to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, giving dreamers more time to spend on U.S. soil.
For the first time in nearly three years, Nery Lopez, a dreamer under DACA, said she can breathe a sigh of relief on Thursday.
“A lot of hope for so many that have been living this uncertainty,” she said. “This small part that happened today is a victory to so much uncertainty that we’ve been living since 2016. It will stay for now, but we still have to keep fighting for that pathway to citizenship.”
The Supreme Court’s decision ruled that DACA must remain in place until further notice. The justices, however, were not ruling on the policy of the law, but rather the way the Trump administration tried to dismantle it.
“Many parents, grandmas, uncles, aunts will sleep with a little more relief knowing that our kids are protected from deportation,” Maria Rodriguez, the Florida Immigrant Coalition’s executive director, said.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined the more liberal wing of the court for the second time this week, after the court ruled out transgender and gay rights inequality in the workplace on Monday.
In the majority opinion, Roberts said, “The basic rule here is clear: an agency must defend its actions based on the reasons it gave when it acted.”
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the dissenting opinion, “DACA was unlawful from the start, and that alone is sufficient to justify its termination.”
Ana Guevara has lived in the U.S. since she was 9 years old. She was born in Nicaragua, and she has been concerned for several years that she would be sent back to a country she hardly knows.
“When I woke up this morning, I knew that there was a possible decision coming out, and I was just waiting,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. Like, I was in a state of shock because my feelings of happiness were rolling in, but it felt surreal. We’re celebrating today, but tomorrow we’re continuing our fight for immigrant rights justice.”
“This DACA decision is giving me the opportunity to renew my DACA, which was soon to expire,” Lorena, a dreamer, said. “I know that this is only the beginning. This is only the beginning of a very long fight.”
Shortly after the court’s decision, Trump wrote on Twitter, “These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd Amendment & everything else. Vote Trump 2020!”
Trump also questioned on the social media platform whether or not the Supreme Court “likes” him.
“We’re looking at the Senate, and we’re asking for a permanent solution for the dreamers because we know the vast majority of Americans want them to stay, and they want them to stay permanently,” Florida Immigrant Coalition spokesperson Melissa Taveras said.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who will be running against Trump in the November election, released a statement on the decision.
“As Justice Roberts said, the Trump administration’s action was capricious and arbitrary,” he wrote. “If Trump attempts to repeal DACA again, he will be responsible for upending the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people and bringing harm to families and communities all across the country.”
“We know that this is not the end, and it’s just a beginning to a permanent solution,” Lopez said.
United We Dream reports there are roughly 35,000 dreamers in the state of Florida.
“While this decision obviously provides relief to immigrant youth, their families and allies, our work is not finished,” Thomas Kennedy, the state coordinator for United We Dream, said.
The White House can still attempt to dismantle DACA, but legal experts said it will be impossible to do so by the November election, which will likely make DACA a large issue during the 2020 presidential campaign.
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