Today marks the 11 year mark
since the start of the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals,
also known as DACA.
The program has paved the way fr
young immigrants in this country
to gain access to better paying
jobs and educational opportunit.
But today the fate of DACA still
hangs in the limbo after it facd
legal challenges during the
Trump administration and from
some Republicanled states now,
two years ago. Texas.
Judge Andrew Hainan ruled that A
was unlawful because the Homelad
Security memo that created it dt
go through proper procedures.
But the Biden administration
submitted new DACA regulations.
However, nine states,
including Texas, sued again,
claiming that they've incurred hundreds of
millions of dollars in costs from the policy.
And so again,
here we are,
eleven years later,
in limbo with this program.
So joining us to talk more about
DACA and the people affected bys
is Priscilla Wilcox with Jamie Baron,
PC immigration attorneys.
Priscilla,
thank you so much for being wit.
Thank you for having me.
So, you know,
it doesn't seem like this makes
news headlines a lot these days,
just so people remember, you kn?
We say that these are young immigrants
who've come to this country.
Some of them aren't so young anymore.
They this is the only country
they've ever known.
Perhaps they were brought here
with a parent and have been
here for a long time.
Absolutely. So some of the oldest DACA
recipients are actually now about 4041,
because DACA obviously came in,
in place in June 15, 2012,
and at that point, you had to have been
under 31 years of age in order to apply.
So we're talking about a large
range of individuals, some who ,
you know, just reaching 40,
some of them who are much younger and,
yes, brought here through no
fault of their own as children.
Some of them don't even
speak their native language,
have never visited their home
country since they were brought here,
have made their lives here, car,
has gotten married, have small .
citizen children,
and this is home to them.
And you mentioned
that, you know,
they've made lives and careers .
You know, we do hear, you know,
especially here in Texas of, you know,
the state saying that you know these.
This group of people has cost us money,
but they've also been in many
cases contributing to the econo,
doing vital jobs,
nursing doctors, etcetera,
paying taxes and and all of tha.
So there are are two edges to
this and how many people are we
talking about here?
Total now,
definitely. So we're talking
about 600,000 people in the
United States who are currently
benefiting from the DACA progra.
And if we're talking about Texas alone,
there's been estimates if,
if the DACA program is rescinde,
we're talking about losing about 5000
jobs a month over a period of two years.
And estimates include that that
would be about 300 teachers a m,
400 healthcare workers a month.
So we're talking about essential
workers and you know,
it'd be a huge impact to the economy when
and if this happens to be resci.
So what is the future right now as far as,
you know, where you sit anyway for this
group of people known as the Dreamers?
Again there, you know,
we've had legal challenges tying things up.
I think a lot of people thought that,
you know, this was going to get remedied
a couple of times in the past few years,
but it hasn't happened yet.
Where does it all sit now?
So absolutely litigation has been ongoing
since 2018 when the first suit s
brought forth and you know it's been.
Appealed to the Fifth Circuit.
It's been since remanded to the lower
court with Judge Hainan Southern
District Court out of Houston.
And actually oral arguments
were heard last week.
Now, we don't know when that
decision's going to come out.
It could be any day.
It could be a year from now.
And so unfortunately,
the future of DACA is uncertain.
And for those individuals with ,
you know, living every day not
knowing if today's the day thats
program gets cancelled and I'm t
without status and I'm unprotec,
you know, stuff.
Definitely devastating.
Yeah.
I wanted to ask you that as we
closeout here, you, you know,
deal very closely with this iss.
You've met a lot of these peopl.
What is that like for them?
The the daily not knowing if yoe
going to be able to stay or have to go.
It's it's excruciating as as a
immigration advocate and an atty
has been doing this for 10 year.
I see it every day.
It's extremely stressful to me.
I can't imagine being in their s
where this is your life and you know,
trying to maybe explain to your young kids.
Mom and Dad might not be here tomorrow
because I'm not be able to stay.
So it's definitely the immigratn
community is rallying to try to
do what it can to put this now
in Congress's hands to try to.
Secure the future of DACA
moving forward.
That's a lot hanging over the hs
of many people here in this cou.
We'll keep watching the courts
and Congress, but again,
here we are, eleven years later
and this is still in limbo.
Priscilla Wilcox with Jamie Bar,
Immigration, PC Attorneys,
Thanks for being on with us
and and updating us today.
Thank you for having me.