While yesterday’s split decision sets no Supreme Court precedent, the important, commonsense policies demonstrated by the President Obama’s executive actions on DAPA and DACA+ will unfortunately remain blocked nationwide thanks to the overreach by a single district court judge in Texas and the partisan obstruction of Republicans in Congress.
DAPA and DACA+ are lawful, constitutional, and consistent with decades of actions taken by presidents of both parties.
As citizens, we are embarrassed that the Supreme Court failed to provide clarity and guidance for the nation in this matter. Our communities will continue to suffer as a result.
This ruling will have a major impact on the lives of millions of families across the country. The injury will be especially grievous to the children of those families affected by the lack of a decision. Thousands of children living in the Rio Grande Valley will wake up tomorrow morning with a familiar, daily dread of not knowing if their father or mother will be disappeared by federal agents. This sickness is not theirs alone, but spreads across the length and breadth of our Valley community.
This suffering only serves to sharpen our outrage at the remarks Judge Hanen made after imposing the injunction against DAPA/DACA. The Judge had claimed that he had based his decision on “firsthand, in-the-trenches knowledge of the border situation.” The experience of life “in the trenches” for families in our region is quite different from the Judge. For our families, daily life means living in fear, and of being unfairly tarred as criminals. American children of undocumented parents will continue to suffer the trauma of the terror that comes with realizing that their mother may not return from the grocery store, or that their dad will suffer, once again, the humiliation of stolen wages.
While this decision was all about politics for our opponents, for us and for our communities, it is personal. We know that justice will eventually prevail. The Rio Grande Equal Voice Network and our allies remind our communities and those who will seek our vote this coming November that the DAPA/DACA struggle is but one piece of the larger battle for a comprehensive, humane and just immigration reform, a reform that we look forward to celebrating one day soon.
In the meantime, we urge our allies to keep in mind the names and party affiliations of those who created the misery that this injunction causes our community. In just a few more months, we will be invited to speak our minds at the voting booth. Our vote is indeed our voice, and we will be reminding voters to speak powerfully to those who dare to dehumanize our sisters and our brothers, our parents and our neighbors, our friends and colleagues.
With our many allies from across the nation, the Equal Voice Network reminds our families that while today’s erroneous outcome is deeply disappointing, it does not impact DACA 2012, which was not at issue in this case. We will explore all legal options at our disposal. This battle is not over. We will not stop until every member of our community can live in dignity, without fear of being separated from their families.
The Rio Grande Equal Voice Network and our allies remind our communities and those who will seek our vote this coming November that the DAPA/DACA struggle is but one piece of the larger battle for a comprehensive, humane and just immigration reform, a reform that we look forward to celebrating one day soon.
In just a few more months, we will be invited to speak our minds at the voting booth. Our vote is indeed our voice, and we be reminding voters to speak powerfully to those who dare to dehumanize our sisters and our brothers, our parents and our neighbors, our friends and colleagues.
