Court rejects Trump bid to end young immigrants’ protections

WASHINGTON — In another major decision, the United States Supreme Court voted to uphold a program that protects immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protects about 644,000 people in the U.S. from deportation and provided them with permits to work. The court ruled Thursday, President Donald Trump’s attempt to dismantle the program was illegal.

“Overjoyed, emotional, it’s a lot,” DACA recipient Estefany Pineda told Boston 25 News Anchor Kerry Kavanaugh.

For many young immigrants, the decision is both a victory and a sigh of relief.

“It’s really a breath of relief because the scariest thing is the unknown of what my future could be without it being in my own hands,” said DACA recipient Adla Do Carma.

Do Carma’s family left from Brazil when she was 5 years old in search of better educational and economic opportunities.

Pineda's family fled violence in El Salvador when she was 9.

DACA was created in 2012 under the Obama administration. It’s hundreds of thousands of young immigrants to apply for legal status every two years.

>> Daring to Dream: Dreamers and the fading promise of DACA

President Donald Trump moved to end the program soon after he took office.

So DACA recipients told Kavanaugh their futures were in limbo fearing the possibility of deportation.

“I like I can’t even wrap my mind around the fact that I would just have to wait for that to happen. To me, and it’s how would my life change from now on that, I don’t know, if there’s going to be a knock at the door, they’re going to send me a letter in the mail,” Pineda said.

Chief Justice John Roberts who was joined by the courts four liberal judges determined 'how' the Trump administration attempted to end the program lacked adequate legal explanation.

So DACA remains for now.

In his dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas called the decision “effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision.”

President Trump put out a series of tweets about the decision even questioning whether the Court ‘liked’ him. In one he wrote, “These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives.”

“It shouldn’t be a matter of Republicans or conservatives or Democrats or liberals. We are humans. We came here as children, we’re working for a better future trying to get a better future,” do Carma said.

The young people we spoke with say they are grateful for DACA and this ruling. But long-term limbo remains.

“I think it’s cruel and unfair, that DACA recipients have to live two years at a time. And just to make it clear, we have no path to citizenship. It’s not because we don’t want to be citizens that we’re not doing anything about it. We’re literally stuck with what we have,” said Pineda.

The court ruled the Trump administration has the authority to end the DACA program, provided they about it the right way. So, many recipients are now calling on Congress to act on a permanent legislative solution, something they’ve been asking for years.

>>Previous: Dreamers hopeful ahead of SCOTUS decision on DACA

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