Congress Must Now Act On a Permanent Pathway to Citizenship, Now is the Time to Defund ICE

Atlanta, GA, June 18, 2020 — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, allowed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to continue by keeping DACA renewals in place temporarily.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an affiliation of five independent civil rights organizations, releases the following statement:

“We applaud the Supreme Court for stating that the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end DACA is “arbitrary and capricious” and its decision to allow the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to continue for the time being. DACA has positively changed the lives of more than 800,000 young people in this country, allowing them to live temporarily without fear, and pursue their academic and career goals.

For the Asian American community, this means at least 16,000 Asian American DACA recipients can continue to go to school and work — some of whom are healthcare and other essential workers on the frontlines fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 1.5 million people in this country who live with a DACA recipient, it means relief that their loved ones can continue to stay in the country they call home without fear and constant threats of deportation.

We know that DACA is not a permanent solution. Ultimately, Congress must do its job to provide a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants without using them as bargaining chips for increased interior and border enforcement, or to restrict immigration for families and refugees. Immigrant youth have been fighting for permanent status for far too long, and we won’t stop fighting alongside them.

The federal government spends $5 billion annually of taxpayer dollars on immigration enforcement. In line with our values, and at a time when our nation is acknowledging deep and systemic racism in policing, Advancing Justice asks that Congress defund ICE and support local and state efforts to defund their police forces. These efforts can halt the further militarization of our society and the targeting of communities of color, and instead create an immigration and public safety system that is centered on youth and their families, nonviolence, and racial justice.”