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DACA

Undocumented Immigrants Take To The Streets As Appeals Court Debates DACA

Over 100 undocumented immigrants and their supporters descended on a federal appeals court in New Orleans Wednesday, as oral arguments began on a case that will determine the future of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — the program protecting hundreds of thousands from deportation. José Coronado Flores, 25, a DACA recipient and organizer for the immigration advocacy group CASA, traveled from Maryland to the courtroom at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, as attorneys debated the legality of the program in the case of Texas v. United States. Since its inception over a decade ago, DACA has provided temporary work status and protection from deportation to people brought into the U.S. as children. “For a lot of people, DACA is just a word or a political talking point,” Coronado Flores said.

DACA: Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don’t + Never Again Means Now

DACA in the supreme court – the arguments over legality, the power of presidents and the pawns of imperialist games. Next up, Never Again Action launches proactive and historically conscious activism, combining outreach with protest.

Judge John D. Bates: 5 Fast Facts You Need To Know

John D Bates is the federal district judge who has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the DACA program within 20 days. DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is the program that defers deportation for certain people who arrived illegally in the US as children. Last September, President Trump announced plans to end DACA. He also challenged Congress to write a new law that would allow DACA recipients to remain in the US legally. But after the White House annnounced its plans to phase out DACA, courts ordered the administration to continue accepting new DACA applicants. On Friday, the 72 year old Judge Bates said that the administration must fully re-instate DACA. But he gave the White House a 20 day window in which to appeal his decision.

Dreamers March, Protest In DC To Save DACA

Washington, DC - A group of Dreamers, recipients of Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status that allow undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children to remain, marched 250 miles from New York City to Washington, DC to push members of Congress to restore DACA. They are taking action with allies who joined them in DC this week. Here are a few reports.

Immigrant Youth Walking For DACA Rally At Philadelphia Liberty Bell

On Tuesday, February 20th the 11 undocumented youth and allies who began The Walk to Stay Home, a 15-day walk from New York City to Washington DC, arrived at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. The stop signals the halfway point of the 250-mile journey organized by the Seed Project with the support of the #OurDream Campaign; drawing attention to the need for a clean Dream Act that not only grants permanent protection for undocumented youth but does not harm 11 million undocumented people living and working in the United States. “We have people with blisters, cramps, bleeding noses, and injured feet from the intensity of this walk, but that pain only pushes us forward” said Barbara Hernandez, a California DACA recipient from Orange County.

Immigrant Youth Launch Walk To Stay Home From New York To D.C.

NEW YORK, NY -- On Thursday, February 15th 11 undocumented youth and allies began The Walk to Stay Home, a 15-day walk from New York City’s Battery Park to Washington D.C.’s Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. The 250-mile journey has been organized by the Seed Project with the support of the #OurDream Campaign to draw attention to the need for a clean Dream Act that not only grants permanent protection for undocumented youth but does not harm 11 million undocumented people living and working in the United States. “Everyday I wake up to read the latest news reports. Reading quotes from politicians, both attacks and promises about my existence,” said Hector Jairo Martinez, a New York DACA recipient from Brooklyn. “It is time for us, undocumented youth, to once again step out of the shadows and make a simple demand, let us stay home.” 

DACA Protests Erupt After Schumer Announces Budget Deal

Arrests followed the mass demonstrations that kicked off after the top Senate Democrat celebrated a spending deal with Mitch McConnell As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) proudly announced on Wednesday that he struck a deal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to grant President Donald Trump's wish for a massive increase in military spending while doing nothing for Dreamers, undocumented immigrants and their allies poured into the Senate building demanding that Democrats fight for a clean DACA fix. "The scared politicians are those who cave in to the anti-immigrant president and his submissive Republicans who control Congress and are determined to block the DREAM Act."

The Fight For Immigrant’s Rights; DACA And Beyond

In 2017, President Trump repealed Obama's executive order for young immigrants, Dreamers, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allowed them temporary status in the United States. The repeal took effect in September and advocates have been fighting since then to restore DACA and pass the Dream Act, which would create a path to citizenship. We speak with two immigrant's rights advocates, Mani Martinez of Cosecha Movement and Juan Escalante of America's Voice, about the impacts of current immigration policies and what it would take to permanently protect immigrants in the United States.

Lessons From Immigrant Rights Organizer: We Are Not Our ‘Productivity’

When I started organizing as part of DREAM Act mobilization in 2010, I had high hopes: I thought the act would be my way out of poverty, fugitivity, and uncertainty. But I never thought: At the expense of whom? Back then, I lived in fear, which prevented me from slowing down and contextualizing systems of oppression like colonialism, anti-blackness, and patriarchy. My fears were about basic needs: living without heat in another Boston winter, fear of not being able to afford the $1.50 bus ticket, and so on. The fight for daily survival was all-consuming, and these fears made me want to trust the DREAM Act’s promises of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who entered the United States before age 16.

The Moral Obligation To Provide Sanctuary

Other unions and employers can take additional steps to provide protections. Companies and nonprofits should have a plan in place for how to respond in the case of a workplace raid. They should develop systems to keep worker documentation offsite. They should also consult with immigration attorneys to offer legal clinics for employees. When it comes to city and statewide policy efforts to advance sanctuary, California has made us proud. SB 54, the California Values Act, sponsored by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León, passed in Sept. with a 27-11 vote along party lines, and was signed into law Oct. 5 by Gov. Brown. This legislation prevents state and local law enforcement from aiding federal immigration agents unless someone is convicted of a certain category of crimes. Other efforts in California that were recently passed and signed into law include two bills sponsored by Assemblymember David Chiu. AB 291, the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, and AB 450, the Employment regulation: Immigration Worksite Enforcement Actions Act, mandate immigrant protections in rental housing and at work.

Undocumented Youth & Allies Protest U.S. Capitol For DACA

By Staff for Fight for the Dream. On December 7, 2017 at about 2:00 pm, immigrant youth and allies gathered in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center to demand permanent protection for undocumented youth. Eight DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients and allies were arrested at the demonstration, which saw activists travel from as far as New York and California to call on Congress to pass a Dream Act as part of the omnibus spending bill. Staging their own mock Congressional hearing, protesters shared “testimonies” of why they were there and led a crowd chanting “No Dream, No Deal” and “Undocumented and Unafraid.” The 8 DACA recipients and allies participating in the civil disobedience then began a sit-in and occupied Emancipation Hall for approximately 20 minutes before being arrested and removed from the Capitol.

Latino Officials Arrested In Dream Act Protest Outside Trump Tower

By Ilana Novick for AlterNet - While Donald Trump was threatening to destroy North Korea in his first major speech to the United Nations, Reps. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) along with New York City council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito were being arrested outside Trump Tower, according to a statement from immigrant advocacy organization Make the Road New York. The four elected officials were among the large crowd protesting the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and demanding that Congress pass the Dream Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. A group of 12, including the four officials, blocked traffic in busy midtown Manhattan. Espaillat explained that he participated knowing the risk of arrest. "I do not take civil disobedience lightly," he explained in a statement. "As a member of Congress who was once formerly undocumented, I believe this cause is too monumental to sit idly by." Rep. Gutiérrez, a member of the Judiciary Committee and the chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, emphasized the importance of participating in this action as part of a larger grassroots movement.

Demonstrators Shout Down Pelosi At San Francisco DREAM Act Event

By Staff of CBS - Pelosi unsuccessfully attempted to calm down the chanting students. “You’ve had your say, and it’s beautiful music to our ears,” Pelosi said. But when they interrupted again, she shouted “Just stop it now!” Moments later, she was forced to leave the news conference. Meanwhile in San Francisco federal court, six immigrants brought to the United States as children who became teachers, graduate students and a lawyer sued the Trump administration on over its decision to end a program shielding them from deportation. The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco alleges the move violated the constitutional rights of immigrants who lack legal status and provided information about themselves to the U.S. government so they could participate in the program. “The consequences are potentially catastrophic,” said Jesse Gabriel, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “These people can very powerfully and very clearly communicate the extent to which they organized their lives around this program.” The lawsuit joins others filed over President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has allowed nearly 800,000 immigrants to obtain work permits and deportation protection since 2012.

Dreamers Make Clear: ‘No Deal Without Us!’

By Jessica Corbett for Common Dreams - 'We are not your bargaining chip,' say activists following late-night meeting between Democratic leaders and president. As Democratic leaders and President Donald Trump make a public display over what was or wasn't agreed to during a closed-door meeting about the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program Wednesday night, the Dreamers themselves say their demand to lawmakers remains clear: a clean bill enshrining current protections, one that doesn't further sacrifice immigrant communities to harsh policies and more deeply militarized enforcement. Despite a joint statement, released late Wednesday from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), saying they had agreed to "enshrine" DACA protections quickly along with enacting border security measures that excluded the president's long-promised border wall between the United States and Mexico, Trump said in a series of Tweets Thursday morning that "no deal was made" and—contradicting comments from the White House legislative director earlier this week—any DACA agreement must include a game plan for the wall.

Trump Pandering To Racists With Repeal Of DACA

By Abraham for BAJI - NEW YORK, NY – This morning Attorney General Sessions announced that the Trump Administration will rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allowed 800,000 immigrant youth to live, work and remain in the United States without the constant fear of deportation. Established in 2012, the program has transformed the lives of young people, including thousands of Black immigrants, bringing stability, along with economic and educational opportunities to marginalized families and communities. “BAJI is appalled by Trump’s decision to rescind DACA. By canceling the program President Trump is yet again pandering to white supremacists over immigrant, Black, and poor communities, as well as millions of organizations, businesses, and allies that support DACA recipients. It is now up to Congress to come up with a long term solution to our broken immigration system that protects human rights and enables immigrant families to live and thrive in the U.S.,” says Opal Tometi, BAJI’s Executive Director and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Global Network. “BAJI stands with the millions of young undocumented immigrants whose lives are on the line, including those protected under DACA. Until dignity, justice, and human rights protections can be afforded all oppressed communities in the U.S....
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