By: Jordan Darling, Editor-in-Chief
Contributing Writers: Yeymy Garcia, Managing Editor, Robert Rios, News Editor
Last Tuesday, Nov. 12, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could end DACA and drastically affect the futures of nearly 800,0000 people living in the U.S., including approximately 500 undocumented students at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
In a campus-wide email the morning of Nov. 12, Ana Barragan, the program coordinator of the Toro Dreamers Success Center, asked the campus community to keep “undocumented students on your mind,” as “DACA students, faculty and staff need your moral support—these upcoming months will be particularly difficult not knowing what the future holds for them.”
Most reports after the 80-minute oral arguments ended echoed what Richard Wolf of USA Today wrote, that the Supreme Court‘s five conservative justices “appeared likely to side with the Trump administration to end a program [DACA] that lets nearly 700,000 young, undocumented immigrants live and work in the USA without fear of deportation.” The court’s decision is expected in June 2020 but could come as early as Jan. 2020.
Under DACA, which was created via an executive order by former President Barack Obama, people who were brought to the country as children and met certain criteria, such as graduating from high school or serving in the military and posed no threat to national security, were granted two years of protection from deportation and given work permits. Recipients could renew their status every two years.
The Trump Administration declared that DACA was illegal in 2017 and began to campaign for the end of the program. Two federal courts blocked the action before it was taken to the Supreme Court.
While many of the DACA recipients approached by the Bulletin were reluctant to speak due to privacy concerns, Juan Munoz, a junior business marketing major, wasn’t one of them.
“To me, DACA is a way to have a voice in this country because without it your nothing here basically,” Munoz said. “I’ve been hearing about it since last year that they wanted to take away DACA from the students. As a DACA recipient, I think that’s not the correct choice for the country or for myself and other DACA recipients because that’s how we go to school, that’s how we get a job, and without DACA I wouldn’t even be here with this job.”
One CSUDH student who wished to remain anonymous said “If DACA is terminated, it won’t change who I am and the person I will become. On the contrary, it will inspire and fuel me to do exactly what I set out to do.”
