A car caravan celebration rallied near Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in East San Jose Thursday afternoon, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of not ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“We had, you know, cars honking. Folks putting up signs on their cars about fighting for, you know, not just DACA,” Priya Murthy, Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) policy and advocacy director. “But, you know, fighting for the rights of all immigrants and the rights of actually all people of color and fighting for racial justice”
The Obama-era program offers immigrants brought to the country as children, work authorization and temporary protection from deportation.
“We were glad to see that the Supreme Court made the right decision in terms of … making the decision that the way Trump went about terminating the program was unlawful,” Murthy said.
In the 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, stating in his opinion that the former acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Elaine C. Duke didn’t give adequate reasoning for ending DACA, which is a federal procedural requirement.
“We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies,” Roberts said. “ The wisdom’ of those decisions ‘is none of our concern.”
Roberts said the court’s job was solely to address whether Duke’s memorandum announcing the termination of DACA adhered to the procedural requirement to provide a justification as to why the program was being canceled.
In addition, Duke failed to address what would happen to the thousands that rely on the program to pursue their college education, jumpstart businesses and marry.
Not to mention that DACA recipients have had an estimated 200,000 children who are U.S. citizens and pay more than $60 billion a year in taxes, according to NPR.
Duke’s memo was based on the opinion of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said in 2017, "such an open-ended circumvention of immigration laws was an unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch" and therefore unlawful, according to NPR.
“That dual failure raises doubts about whether the agency appreciated the scope of its discretion or exercised that discretion in a reasonable manner,” Roberts said.
Murthy said there was a huge sense of relief within the immigrant community and it’s advocates when the decision came out.
“It was very reassuring to see that message come from the highest court in the country,” Murthy said.
Nearly 100 community members attended the SIREN hosted event and celebrated in their cars, as well as some gathering near the church, as DACA recipients shared how the fight wasn’t over.
“There’s a renewed energy in the fight for a permanent solution and a congressional solution to fight for immigrants,” Murthy said.
Murthy said Our Lady of Guadalupe church is seen as more than a church for the immigrant community, it represents a strong history of promoting justice in East San Jose.
“That’s why we thought it was important to make sure that the action or celebration we had was where the community feels at home,” Murthy said.
Murthy said SIREN is continuing to provide DACA legal service legal, including assistance with applications and scholarship for filancy.
Maria Ayala, San Jose State business senior and DACA recipient, was 7 years old when she made her journey to America from Guanajuato, Mexico with her mother.
Thursday morning, she had just woken up to the news and was in disbelief.
“I’m honestly really happy right now,” Ayala said, who relies on the program to be able to work and go to school so that she can continue to renew her DACA application.
Although uncertainty remains despite Thursday’s decision on DACA, Ayala said she hopes to continue her education because she’s been a valuable member of society as a student who has managed two jobs while going to school to pay for tuition.
“I’m trying to start a business,” Ayala said. “I’m trying to contribute. I don’t do bad things. I feel like I'm a pretty good person.”
“There remains much work to be done to provide long-term solutions for DACA recipients,” SJSU President Mary A. Papazian said in a campuswide email Thursday.
SJSU plans to host a virtual town hall to clarify what the decision means for students and answer questions Wednesday, June 24 at 3 p.m.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the decision was an important victory for more than 200,000 DACA recipients in the state, who he said contribute to their communities everyday.
“We need a permanent solution for undocumented Californians and acknowledge that a pathway to citizenship is not enough,” Newsom said. “[DACA recipients] are our neighbors, our coworkers and our friends, and in California, we will continue to have their backs.
Newsom said he acknowledged the systemic injustice and racism within the U.S. and institutions and vowed to fight for everyone to be treated with “dignity and respect.”
Kathleen Normington, SJSU film and theatre lecturer and director of “[dreamer] project: an Undocuplay” that focuses on DACA students’ stories, said she’s happy and relieved for the DACA students she’s gotten to know through her years of teaching.
“They deserve this but so much more,” Normington said. “This fight is not over and we all need to do our part.”
Normington said she will continue to share the stories of DACA students, as she and SJSU students did last year at the SJSU Hammer Theatre Center.
The next show is scheduled at Diablo Valley College for Fall 2020.
