A federal appeals court placed another roadblock in front of President Trump’s efforts to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.
One Delaware organization was among those that filed a brief supporting the policy.
Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction stopping the President from ending DACA, an Obama-era policy that protects young, undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation.
Education advocacy group DelawareCAN joined several organizations in filing an amicus brief last spring supporting the policy.
DelawareCAN Director Atnre Alleyne says the brief argued ending DACA would negatively impact education by damaging DACA students’ mental health or making some families less likely to access social services.
“The policy around DACA has allowed students to feel certain prospects around higher education and continuing their education, feeling comfortable focusing on attaining their goals,” he said.
Alleyne says worrying about deportation can make undocumented students feel that pursuing higher education may not be worth it.
“If we as an organization focus on making sure that all students have access to a high quality education, it’s clear that this policy change would disrupt students’ education in the worst way,” said Alleyne.
Jill Family teaches immigration law at Widener University Commonwealth Law School. She says the impact of amicus briefs vary, but judges do take them into account.
She adds the recent 9th Circuit appeal is not the only DACA-related litigation going on.
“There are also lawsuits in New York, in Maryland, in Texas, and so each of those separate lawsuits is sort of in a different place, and this is what’s making it so confusing for individuals to figure out right now if DACA is possible for them,” she said.
She says a resolution will likely come when one of these cases reaches the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, she encourages anyone trying to determine if they should apply or reapply for DACA to talk to an immigration attorney or non-profit.
