A major action to bring attention to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has begun, just days before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments about the future of the program.
Over the weekend, some 200 Dreamers, undocumented immigrants, community leaders, allies, and supporters kicked off an 18-day, 230-mile walk from New York to Washington, DC in an event called the #HomeIsHere march. As the New York Daily News wrote, “they’re marching because they could lose everything.”
The group is marching to build national support for DACA and bring awareness to the contributions undocumented youth make to the U.S. as part of the national #HomeIsHere campaign. The march will end at the steps of the United States Supreme Court where opening arguments on DACA will be heard on Tuesday, November 12.
The march is being led by activists from NAKASEC, Make the Road New York, the New York Immigration Coalition, CHIRLA, and others.
Nearly 800,000 undocumented youth benefit from DACA since it was created by President Obama in 2012. DACA allows young people to go to college, work and contribute to their communities without the fear of deportation.
In 2017, President Trump tried to end DACA and placed the lives of hundreds of thousands in limbo. The president’s order was blocked by the courts, but legal maneuvering by the Trump Administration has brought the case before the Supreme Court. In the intervening years, Dreamers who already had DACA have been able to renew their status, but hundreds of thousands who should have aged into the program have been prohibited from applying and obtaining protections or legal work status.
For DACA recipients, the United States IS their home. Most of them have lived here for more than 20 years and arrived on average when they were 7 years old. They pay billions in state and local taxes and many are parents to U.S. citizens.
Click here to show your support for DACA and check out photos of the launch of the #HomeIsHere march below.
