Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit Court upheld Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling that DACA was illegal but allowed for the program to stay in place for its current recipients. The same court that struck down Roe v. Wade now holds power over my life as well as hundreds of thousands of other DACA recipients and our loved ones. Over the past ten years, DACA has enabled us to become essential workers through the pandemic, caretakers for families (both biological and chosen), and become integral parts of our communities. At the same time, many more have been excluded from DACA and have been unable to benefit from its protections.
As a DACA recipient and lawyer, I decided that I can no longer afford to watch from the sidelines as my life gets litigated and decided in politically biased courts. I have decided that it’s time to stop being a bystander and hope for a benevolent ruling. We, as directly impacted people and allies to directly impacted people, have the power and duty to pressure our elected officials to do their job. We’ve witnessed failed attempts at creating a pathway for DACA recipients and their families and it is long past due for Congress to take meaningful action.
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