Sonia Salgado burst into tears when she found out that a federal judge ruled this Friday 16 July that no new applications can be submitted to apply for the first time for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the program that blocks deportation and grants a work permit for young people who came to the United States as children.
“ It’s not fair. I’m very sad. I’ve lived here all my life. I did not come to this country by my own decision. They brought me from Mexico when I was 9 years old ”, he sobbed.
The judge’s ruling Texas federal Andrew Hanen against DACA preventing new applications from being submitted for first-time applicants, broke the hearts of many young people who were eagerly waiting to enroll in the program for the first time.
Sonia, who has 37 years old and the mother of three children, she was preparing all her documentation to apply for DACA. “They were helping me fill out my application at the CARECEN organization. The lawyer had asked me for a little more proof of my stay in the country in 2008, and that’s what I was on. ”
applied for DACA when President Obama authorized it in June of 2012.
“I had a problem when I had 16 years. For being in bad company we committed a minor robbery in a department store. I was very afraid that this would show up on my record if I applied for DACA, and that it would cause me to be deported. ”
It wasn’t until who went to CARECEN when after investigating his background, he was told that no charges were filed for the incident. “When I learned that, I felt confident to apply for DACA, but I found that there was no money to pay the fee. My husband was unemployed all year due to the pandemic. He has only recently had construction work done, but he is very unstable. I got a part-time job as a health promoter. ”
Sonia had opened a GoFundMe account to raise funds and pay for your DACA. Had collected $ 290 of the $ 495 charged by the Migration and Customs Service (USCIS) for the program. “This news has broken my illusions, but I want to maintain the faith that they will give us the opportunity to be residents and citizens of this country.”
Unable to control her tears, Luz Gallegos from the TODEC Legal Center confessed that she and her colleagues began to cry when they found out about the judge’s decision, because they had just gotten the funds to help boys apply for the first time for DACA.
“Many started calling us to ask if it was true.”
And just this Friday 16 of July when the ruling against was given, they began to assist the new applicants with the DACA collection.
“ The ability to submit new applications came shortly after Biden entered the presidency and reinstated this program, but due to the lack of money due to the unemployment of many parents due to the pandemic, many young people were delayed to submit their application due to the cost ”.
Gallegos said they knew that this decision could come at any moment, but they hoped that things would be different because Trump was gone.
“This ruling by the judge Texas leaves us a great lesson. We cannot trust ourselves to have a Democratic president. Trump emboldened many racists, and what we are seeing are the aftermath of his government. ”
Now he affirmed that they have to continue fighting for a immigration reform for dreamers because things don’t come from heaven.
The judge’s decision in the lawsuit filed in 2018 by Texas Attorney Ken Paxton and joined by the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia , does not affect current DACA recipients or prevent them from renewing their work permits every two years .
Gallegos specified that those who reached migration received their application package for the first time from DACA on 15 July, you will have no problem q that they are authorized. “Now we will only be able to support with the payment of DACA those who seek to renew the program.”
The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) gave know that together with their allies they will continue to defend DACA because it has protected nearly a million young immigrants from deportation.
“This lawsuit is rooted in anti-immigrant hatred and is unfounded. The DACA program was won after years of organizing by young immigrants who are not intimidated, ”said Verónica García, an ILRC attorney.
He added that it is nothing less than another attack on immigrant communities and minorities led by Texas, a state known for state anti-immigrant law. most retrograde in the country, SB 4 ”.
Gaby Pacheco de la organization Dream.US, said that Judge Hanen’s decision is a disappointment to the nation showing the need for Congress to pass legislation offering citizenship to dreamers .
“DACA has been a program that has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of dreamers . Countless schools, workplaces, and communities have been strengthened by the opportunities provided by DACA to dreamers. But despite all its successes, DACA does not provide the certainty and permanence that they and the United States need. ”
Vanessa Moreno, a young DACA recipient since 2012, who works for the Council of Mexican Federations (COFEM) in the Coachella area, said that the closing of this opportunity for new registrations, has left them with many concerns. “Those of us who are already in DACA are privileged, but I don’t like this decision at all. We are tired of living in a legal battle over this program, and we have always known that it is a temporary solution that can be blocked at any time because the Superior Court ministers are more conservative. ”
Therefore, she revealed that she feels frustrated and afraid. “Now the renewal applications for which we are already registered, have a delay of up to 5 months, and there are those who have expired their work permits. We knew the delay for first time applicants was 5 to 10 months. ”
He trusted that the only thing he hopes is that this decision will put pressure on that congressmen act fast in favor of a path for the legalization of DACA.
Thomas A. Sáenz, lawyer and president of the Mexican American Fund for Legal Defense and Education (MALDEF), said that this case should never have been presented and progressed.
“Current DACA recipients remain fully protected, but the decision threatens hundreds of thousands of people who should also be protected as they continue to contribute to the betterment of our nation.”
The decision, he emphasized, was clearly determined by the opinions of the judge many years ago, and does not reconcile important recent developments in the law of presidential authority; therefore, it presents numerous reasons for a potentially successful appeal.