Dear John,

Today the Supreme Court voted to block the Trump administration's attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the program that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the US as children from deportation.

The current administration has been trying for years to dismantle the program, which was announced by President Barack Obama in 2012. Of the nearly 800,000 DACA recipients who have participated in the past eight years:

• 90 percent are employed
• 45 percent are in school
• 30,000 work in the healthcare industry

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra led a coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia in the fight for today’s ruling. He said that ending DACA “would have been cruel to the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who call America home, and it would have been bad for our nation’s health.”

Today’s 5 to 4 decision was written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who was joined by Justices Ginsberg, Sotomayor, Bryer, and Kagen. Of the decision, President Barack Obama said, “Eight years ago this week, we protected young people who were raised as part of our American family from deportation. Today, I’m happy for them, their families, and all of us. We may look different and come from everywhere, but what makes us American are our shared ideals.”

We celebrate today with all DACA recipients and their families, and are committed to the continued work toward their full inclusion and equity. We are all in this together. 

In service,

Salam Al-Marayati
President, MPAC