Durbin Statement On Federal Court Ordering Trump Admin To Reopen DACA Program For New Applicants
SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee and author of the Dream Act, today released the following statement regarding the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland’s order for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to fully restore Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which includes reopening DACA to eligible individuals who have been unable to apply due to President Trump’s decision to terminate DACA in September 2017:
“First, the Supreme Court rejected the repeal of DACA and now a federal court has confirmed this requires the Trump Administration to reopen DACA for new applicants. I thought President Trump was the ‘law and order’ president? And yet he’s in direct defiance of our courts. Republicans and Democrats in Congress must come together to compel the President to immediately comply with these multiple court mandates.”
The Supreme Court announced its decision on DACA on June 18, 2020, with Chief Justice John Roberts calling the Administration’s effort to repeal deportation protections for Dreamers—young immigrants who came to the United States as children—“arbitrary and capricious.”
Earlier this week, Durbin and U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) led a letter from 33 Senators to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf calling on the Trump Administration to immediately comply with the Supreme Court’s decision rejecting the Administration’s rescission of DACA and requiring the Administration to reopen DACA for new applicants.
More than 800,000 Dreamers have come forward and received DACA. Dreamers have contributed to our country as soldiers, nurses, teachers, and small business owners. Even as their own fates remained uncertain due to the Trump Administration’s rescission of DACA, more than 200,000 DACA recipients have served as essential workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by teaching children; growing, packaging, cooking, and shipping food; stocking the shelves at grocery stores; and providing health care services to those who fall sick.
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