(Jamaica Gleaner) Approximately 3,000 Jamaicans who are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA) breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday after the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Donald Trump administration cannot end the programme that was instituted by executive order by then President Barack Obama eight years ago.
In a 5-4 decision, the court called the decision to end the programme an “arbitrary” and “capricious” violation of the law.
DACA allows DREAMers, children who were brought to the United States by their parents before the age of 11 years, to stay in the country without fear of deportation. They have been granted social security numbers and allowed to attend school and work. Many have gone on to create a permanent life in the US.
It is projected that some 90 per cent of DACA recipients have jobs and that 45 per cent are in school.
“I am relieved,” said Rohan D, a Jamaican DACA recipient who said that he was in limbo awaiting the decision. He requested that his surname be withheld.
“I can go to school without the thought of deportation hanging over my head,” he said.
Rohan is a senior in high school and is looking forward to going to college in the fall. He went to the United States at age seven from Jamaica and was eligible for the programme.
Like many other DACA recipients, Rohan sees the US as his home and does not want to leave.
“I have no other home but here, and it would be unfair to send me back after I have made by life here,” he told The Gleaner on Thursday.
Jamaica’s consul general to New York, Alsion Wilson, welcomed the Supreme Court decision.
“It represents a beacon of hope for the approximately 3,000 Jamaicans who are beneficiaries of this programme,” she said.
Jamaican Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, who has been in the forefront of the immigration battle, was triumphal.
“As a co-lead of H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act to provide a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers, I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision to block the Trump administration’s attempt to end DACA. Dreamers, many of whom have lived in America since they were small children, are American in every sense of the word.”
“… While I wish this decision were even broader and also upheld DACA on equal-protection grounds, the fact that DACA recipients are safe from deportation for now is a major milestone,” the congresswoman said.
Clarke warned that the Trump administration might try again to end DACA through other means.
“If that happens, rest assured, I will fight just as hard to stop it. Now is not the time to rest easy. As we celebrate this win, let’s also focus on the work that lies ahead,” she said.
Jamaican immigration attorney Michelle Fanger, who works in Jacksonville, Florida, described the court’s ruling as a blessing for all.
“This is really good news! … It is a positive development because many in the DACA programme were fearful and did not know if they should apply for extension. Many do not have other options to adjust their status if the court had ruled against them,” she said.
Irwine Clare, head of Caribbean Immigration Services in Queens, also praised the court’s decision.
“I am happy for the more than 700,000 young people who have been spared deportation by this decision,” he said.
Clare said that there is still uncertainty as to whether new applications will be done.
David Brown, Jamaican attorney out of South Florida, said that he agreed with the Supreme Court’s decision.
“It was the proper legal decision,” he told The Gleaner.
Brown said that the decision gives DACA recipients a reprieve. He said that he doubted Trump would, in the current political climate, move again to end the programme.
“This would not be a wise thing to do,” he said.
Trump, reacting to the court’s decision, said that it was a “shotgun blast” in the face of conservatives. He criticised the court and wondered if did not like him.
On the other hand, Obama applauded the ruling.
“I am happy for them, their families, and for all of us,” the former president said.
