Following a Texas federal judge’s temporary injunction against President Barack Obama’s expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which would afford undocumented children of immigrant parents temporary protection from deportation, as well as giving them a social security number and a work permit, the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition (LBIRC) released a statement Wednesday in support of the expanded policy.
On Monday, Judge Andrew S. Hanen, of Federal District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in Brownsville issued a temporary injunction against the program, which was slated to go into effect today, stating the administration had failed to follow proper procedure for changing federal policy. The executive action drew opposition from Texas and 25 other states across the country.
The White House, however, maintains the President is within his authority.
“The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws—which is exactly what the President did when he announced commonsense policies to help fix our broken immigration system,” according to a statement from the White House. “Those policies are consistent with the laws passed by Congress and decisions of the Supreme Court, as well as five decades of precedent by presidents of both parties who have used their authority to set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws. The Department of Justice, legal scholars, immigration experts, and the district court in Washington, D.C. have determined that the President’s actions are well within his legal authority. Top law enforcement officials, along with state and local leaders across the country, have emphasized that these policies will also benefit the economy and help keep communities safe. The district court’s decision wrongly prevents these lawful, commonsense policies from taking effect and the Department of Justice has indicated that it will appeal that decision.”
Obama said in a statement to the press that he would make an appeal.
“The Department of Homeland Security will continue with the planning because we want to make sure that as soon as these legal issues get resolved — which I anticipate they will, in our favor — that we are ready to go,” he told reporters at a press conference Tuesday.
The LBIRC said in a statement that the DACA program, which was first announced in 2012, has “already had a dramatic and positive impact on the lives of thousands of young people” in Long Beach and California, and has allowed them to ‘come out of the shadows’ and contribute to the well-being of our community.”
The UCLA North American Integration and Development Center has estimated that the legalization of work for DACA and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) recipients in Los Angeles county would cause their collective wages to grow by more than $1.6 billion and generate more than $1.1 billion in new tax revenues.
Los Angeles County is home to almost one-tenth of the country’s 11.4 million undocumented immigrants, the LBIRC said, adding that it estimates that close to 466,000 undocumented Los Angeles County immigrants will be eligible for either DACA or DAPA when the program is implemented.
The LBIRC said in its statement that it has been preparing for the effects of DACA and DAPA should they be approved, including forums, presentations and organized legal clinics.
“We will continue to do our best to prepare potential applicants for the new programs while the decision is appealed and while we remind the larger community that these are real people’s lives that are being affected by the decision,” the LBIRC said. “Without these new programs, parents will continue to be separated from their children through deportations and young people will have their lives and dreams placed on hold by not having access to legal status. Our community needs the full participation of our large and diverse immigrant community—the students, workers, mothers, fathers and children who on a daily basis contribute to making this a vital and more productive community, state and nation. DAPA and DACA are limited programs in that they are temporary and only cover a certain portion of the undocumented community, they are nevertheless the victories of our vital youth-led grassroots movement and they are important steps on the way to much-needed comprehensive immigration reform.”