Disability Rights Pennsylvania Congratulates Dreamers on DACA Win

Disability Rights Pennsylvania applauds the United States Supreme Court decision to retain the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion of the Court and was joined by Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer, Justice Kagan and Justice Sotomayor.

The DACA program was started in 2012 under a Presidential Executive Order to permit adults, who arrived to the U.S. as undocumented children, to come forward, pass a background check, apply for work permits, and request deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal.   700,000 individuals were granted relief under the program.  Pennsylvania is home to 5,900 Dreamers.

Congress must finally weigh in and pass legislation to protect Dreamers so there is a permanent pathway to citizenship for individuals who have been an integral part of communities.

The ruling today permits the DACA program to remain in place and new applications must be accepted for the program.

Dreamers come to the U.S. from across the world, including Asia, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas.