Immigrant Youth File Legal Brief Calling For Appeals Court To Overturn Hanen Court’s Cruel Ruling on DACA

Over 80 grassroots organizations, service groups, and educational institutions signed on in support of the amicus brief.

For Immediate Release
Contact: José Alonso Muñoz | jose@unitedwedream.org | 202.810.0746

Washington, D.C. – Immigrant youth of United We Dream filed an amicus brief in the United States v. Texas case, asking the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling on the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The brief was signed by 83 other signatories – made up of grassroots advocacy organizations, social services groups, and educational institutions, including 61 colleges and universities where many immigrant youth have studied and are currently enrolled.

Background: In July, Judge Hanen of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled to “vacate” the Department of Homeland Security’s memo that established the DACA program, putting a partial end to it – meaning that no new DACA applications would be granted, but allowing USCIS to continue processing renewals for current DACA recipients. 

Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, Senior Advocacy Manager of United We Dream, said:

“This past July, a year after our historic victory at the Supreme Court in 2020, a cruel and vindictive ruling by Judge Hanen in Texas put the lives of DACA recipients, DACA eligible youth, and our families in jeopardy again. Yesterday, immigrant youth of United We Dream filed an amicus brief, joined by 83 other signatories, asking the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to take the full impact of the DACA program on the lives of DACA recipients, DACA eligible youth, our families and the broader American public, into account and overturn Judge Hanen’s ruling. 

At United We Dream, we recognize the power of our stories to drive change, which is why the brief on the personal stories of undocumented young people who have had their lives impacted by the DACA program. While DACA is the floor, and not the ceiling of what immigrant communities deserve, we recognize the impact that the work permit and protections from deportation which DACA provides, has meant for hundreds of thousands of young people since we won it in 2012, and we recognize that additional anxiety and uncertainty that ending the program would cause not just for the over 600,000 current DACA recipients, but also our families, and the millions of Americans who are children or relatives to a DACA recipient.

Undocumented people, including DACA recipients, have had to live in a state of limbo about their immigration status, in threat of  detention, deportation, and family separation. This court case further underlines the urgency for Congress to act to finally pass a pathway to citizenship for not just DACA recipients, but all 11 million undocumented people.”