REFUGEE CONGRESS APPLAUDS SUPREME COURT DECISION ON DACA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 18, 2020

Refugee Congress applauds the Supreme Court opinion issued today, preventing the Trump Administration from terminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that gives qualified protection to “Dreamers” and calls on Congress to make protections permanent.  

Many members of Refugee Congress came to the United States as refugee children, grew up here and consider themselves Americans.

“As someone who came to the United States as a child refugee, the U.S. is the only home I know,” said Lourena Gboeah, Chair of the Refugee Congress Board of Directors and Delegate for Delaware. “I grew up here, went to school here and now work and give back here. My life is here. I cannot imagine being torn from my friends, family and community and being told I must go back to a place I don’t even remember.”

And yet this is the very real threat that Dreamers continue to face until our elected officials find the courage to do the right thing and create permanent protections or a path to citizenship for close to a million young people who are our friends, neighbors, co-workers and… fellow Americans. 

The DACA program, implemented in 2012, provides protection to qualifying undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children under the age of 16, allowing them to access education and work legally, though it stops short of providing a pathway to citizenship.

There are currently 653,000 Dreamers, though more than one million qualify. A 2018 study estimated that reversing DACA would result in the loss of nearly $93 billion in tax revenue and would cost the U.S. economy $351 billion over the next decade.

Refugee Congress stands in solidarity with Dreamers. We celebrate today’s victory and express gratitude to all those Dreamers and allies who organized and made their voices heard — showing yet again the power of our voices when we speak up.

Our communities are made stronger through the contributions of Dreamers. We pledge to continue lifting up their struggle as we work together for more humane policies for all refugees and immigrants.  

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Refugee Congress is a nonpartisan national advocacy organization built and led by former refugees, asylum-seekers and other vulnerable migrants to promote the well-being, integration and dignity of all vulnerable migrants. With delegates across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, we use our voices and experiences to inform and influence decision-makers on critical domestic and international issues that affect our communities.  www.refugeecongress.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kacy Kostiuk
Communications Manager
(202) 905-6238
media@refugeecongress.org