Illegal Alien DACA Recipients Tell the Supreme Court That the Program Should Be Preserved Due to Coronavirus

Illegal aliens who are recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program argued to the Supreme Court on Friday that the program should be preserved because of the coronavirus.

In a letter to the justices, lawyers for Dreamers claimed that there are 27,000 DACA recipients working in health care jobs. 

“The pandemic sheds new light on the reliance interests of healthcare providers and the public health consequences of ignoring those interests,” the lawyers wrote.

They argued that the fact that some DACA recipients work as home health aides and such is a reason why the Supreme Court should reject President Donald Trump’s attempts to end the unconstitutional program.

The 2012 Obama program granted temporary amnesty to over 825,000 illegal aliens who were brought to the country by their parents as children, though most are no longer children now.

On August 31, 2018, District Court Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that DACA is likely unconstitutional as it was never approved by Congress and was enacted unilaterally by Barack Obama and his administration.

“Termination of DACA during this national emergency would be catastrophic,” the lawyers claimed.

A decision on the fate of the program by the Supreme Court was expected this summer, but it is unclear if it will be postponed due to the pandemic.