House bill offers relief to 2.5M undocumented immigrants

TWITTER

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the sponsors of Dream and Promise Act.

When the US House of Representatives passed a bill Monday (June 4) that would give permanent citizenship to 2.5 million undocumented immigrants, the audience sitting in the gallery broke into a chant, "Si, se puede! Si, se puede."

The House bill, H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, passed 237-187 with seven Republicans joining the 230 Democrats. Like most of the rest of the Democratic agenda, it’s likely headed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s dustbin.

The bill would allow 2.5 million U.S. residents, including Dreamers – those eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) - and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients, to stay in the US and eventually become citizens.

“This is an historic day that was 18 years in the making!" said Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA< chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. "Finally, Dreamers and other immigrants who have lived and worked here and are American in every way possible are one step closer to being protected from xenophobic threats to separate families and send them to a country many of them have never even known. 

"I know that this bill is particularly important to the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community who, while only making up 6 percent of the entire U.S. population, are 16 percent of the undocumented in this country," said Chu "That means there are over 130,000 Asian American Dreamers living in uncertainty with the threat of deportation always looming."

The elation felt by House Democrats and their supporters will be short-lived however.  Getting the GOP-dominated Senate to pass the bill will be nearly impossible if Senate Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY, even allows the bill come to a vote. Even if by some miracle the Senate passes the bill, the White House has threatened to veto the bill.

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Judge rules that DACA start accepting new applications

ASPIRE

Members of Asians Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education
(ASPIRE) demonstrate in support of undocumented students.

A THIRD FEDERAL JUDGE has determined that Donald Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is "arbitrary" and "capricious." 

The decision this week from Judge John Bates goes a step beyond than either of the earlier injunctions in California and New York. In addition to continue renewing existing DACA participants, the Washington D.C. judge orders the program to invite and approve new applications from so-called Dreamers who have yet to register for DACA,

However, before accepting new application, Bates has given the administration 90 days to issue a better and legally justified argument for ending the program, which was instigated by President Barack Obama through an Executive Order after the GOP-dominated Congress refused to act on immigration reform.DACA protects undocumented immigrants brought to America as children from deportation. The vast majority of the 700,000 to 800,000 DACA recipients are from Mexico. But there are also thousands of people from Asian countries like China, India, South Korea and the Philippines who would lose their protection and face deportation.

“The decision is only a temporary victory that still allows the administration 90 days to present additional grounds for dismantling this essential program for immigrant youth and families, stated Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a coalition of civil rights organizations.

"We believe in a just and humane immigration system that protects immigrants and our families and allows them to thrive in the United States. As such, Advancing Justice affiliates have joined amicus briefs in the multiple cases across the country challenging the administration’s efforts to end the DACA program." 

The statement went on to urge Congress to pass an immigration reform package that includes a permanent solution for undocumented youth, reinstatement of Temporary Protective Status, support refugee programs, and would not sacrifice family unification. 

Bates, who was appointed by President Geoerge W. Bush, said in his ruling that just calling DACA unconstitutional doesn't make it so. He said that accusation is "erroneous" and based on “scant legal reasoning.”

The government also, said Bates, “made no mention of the fact that DACA had been in place for five years and had engendered the reliance of hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries, many of whom had structured their education, employment, and other life activities on the assumption that they would be able to renew their DACA benefits.”
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Trump signs budget even though his wall didn't get fully funded

SEN. RAND PAUL

Sen. Rand Paul , who urged a veto, doubts if anyone has read the 2,232 page budget bill before voting on it.

DONALD TRUMP said today (March 23) he has signed the 2,232-page, $1.3 trillion spending bill that the House and Senate approved Wednesday (March 21), funding the government through September and preventing a government shutdown.

The announcement came hours after the president threatened to veto the bill because it did not provide enough funding for the Damn Wall on the Mexican border or a final resolution for immigrants brought to the country as children under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Let's get this straight: Trump doesn't care about the DACA immigrants. First, he was the one who rescinded DACA simply because it was initiated by President Obama and set up an artificial deadline for a Congressional fix. Trump was only using DACA as a bargaining chip to pass his harsh, radical reform of immigration policies and to build his Damn Wall.

“While this agreement includes funding for many important programs for Hawaii and the country, I am deeply disappointed that it does not protect the 1.8 million Dreamers Donald Trump unnecessarily put at risk when he canceled DACA," said Hawaii's Sen. Mazie Hirono.

"The president created this crisis, and he has sabotaged every effort we’ve made to protect Dreamers," she said.

The fate of 130,000 Asian Dreamers out of the 700,000 to 800,000 young people in the DACA program, are still in a holding pattern after a federal judge ruled that the program must continue to operate until Congress can come up with a bill to resolve their uncertain status. Besides the Dreamers, hundreds of thousands would-be DACA participants who didn't join the program, await the legislation that would settle their status.

RELATED: 

• What did Congress just pass for immigrants?
• Dreamers still in limbo

“DACA recipients have been treated extremely badly by the Democrats. We wanted to include DACA, we wanted to have them in this bill,” Trump said. “The Democrats would not do it." He neglected to say that he was the one to set an artificial deadline for the program's end and that he nexed bipartisan proposals that included relief for the DACA participants..

Trump was clearly irked by the reduced level of border security funding. While Republicans and Trump have said the bill funds Trump's "wall," it was far short of the $25 billion they initially wanted. Instead only $1.6 billion will go to the wall. After displaying the temperment of a spoiiled child that didn't get what he wanted during the bill's signing, by Wednesday night, Trump tweeted that he “Got $1.6 Billion to start Wall on Southern Border, rest will be forthcoming.”

Democrats and some Republicans sought to extend the DACA program but Trump reportedly did not want to give the undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship as part of that deal, as Democrats wanted.

At least one Democrat preferred a Trump veto. "I agree with Rep @Jim_Jordan. Republican leadership didn't just drop a 2300 page spending bill at night. They also forced a rule waiver that made rank & file Members of Congress vote for the $1.3 trillion bill in less than 24 hours. That is outrageous," said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA, who has opposed Trump in almost all other matters.

“This bill reflects priorities that are very different from the president’s. In many ways—and particularly on education, affordable housing, healthcare, and clean energy—it is a strong repudiation of Donald Trump’s misplaced priorities," said Hirono. "I hope this bill connotes a sustained Congressional commitment to stand up for our families and communities."

Among the other items included in the bill:

Gun violence prevention: Modest steps to address gun violence by strengthening the background check system to prevent dangerous individuals from owning a gun -- and explicit language that says that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can conduct gun violence research.

Health care: A $3 billion increase in funding for medical research -- while not defunding Planned Parenthood.

Child care and education: A $610 million increase for Head Start, a program that helps educate kids whose families live below the poverty level.

Climate, environment: A rejection of this White House's plan to cut the EPA by 30%. This bill will increase funding by $763 million, including $300 million each for Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Funds.

2020 Census: A funding increase of $1.4 billion -- more than double what the flawed administration plan requested -- to make sure we accurately count our population, and don't leave anyone behind.

Opioids epidemic: A $3.2 billion increase in funding to fight the latest scourge.

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DACA deadline prompts nationwide demonstrations

FILE PHOTO

Asian Americans show their support for DACA in a demonstration last year..

MARCH 5 was the day DACA was supposed to end. The young people who are in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program had two options: flee or fight. They chose the latter.

Demonstrations took place in major cities across the US in support of the DACA program that protects young undocumented immigrants from deportations.

Hundreds of people took to the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Monday, holding placards with slogans such as "Undocumented and Unafraid" and "Let My People Stay."

The public demonstrations are meant to keep up the pressure on Congress to continue to find a way to continue DACA or create a replacement. After two judges ruled that the President Obama initiative must continue until Congress finds a resolution, the GOP-dominated Senate and House seemed to end discussion about the issue.

Six months ago, in his manic drive to erase Obama's legacy, Donald Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protected the young men and women who were brought into the U.S. as children by their undocumented parents.

“Dreamers are Americans in every way but on paper. They have grown up in our communities and pledge allegiance to our flag," said Sen. Kamala Harris, D-CA. "They’re contributing to our economy and thriving in our universities, workforce and military, including 220,000 in California alone. Dreamers represent the best of who we are as a country and know no other place but the United States as their home."

Trump gave Congress six months to come up with legislation that would do the same thing that the DACA program was already doing -- protecting the Dreamers from deportation.

Obama initiated the program by executive order because the  GOP-controlled Congress refused to approve legislation that would allow the Dreamers to stay in the only country they've ever known.

“The reality is, this Administration created this crisis and sabotaged every effort by Congress to resolve it by using these young people as pawns to achieve an anti-immigrant agenda," said the Indian/American senator.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other immigration advocates also launched a national TV ad campaign over the weekend, opening with one of President Trump's past promises: "We're going to deal with DACA with heart, because I love these kids."

Congress failed to agree on several resolutions last month -- even two that had bipartisan support. The problem was instead of debating DACA, the Trump administration made the discussion about immigration reform, making the issue far more complicated and difficult to meet the March 5 deadline.

More than 90 percent of the 800,000 DACA recipients are employed or in school. Less than one percent had their protection rescinded due to illegal activity, cite immigration advocates.

"With these actions across the country, immigrant youth and their allies are calling on the House of Representatives to pass a narrow and permanent solution to protect immigrant youth from deportation," said a statement Together We Dream, a nonprofit that supports the DACA program. 

Meanwhile, Dreamers are left in limbo. The slow processing of DACA renewals have left many Dreamers vulnerable to deportation as their protected status expires.

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Judge temporarily blocks Trump move to end DACA

Protestors marched in support of DACA after Donald Trump announced his intention to end the program

A FEDERAL JUDGE in San Francisco temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that prevents the deportation of children brought into the U.S. by their undocumented parents.

In his Tuesday (Jan. 9) ruling, Judge William Alsup stated that "the government is hereby ordered and enjoined, pending final judgment herein or other order, to maintain the Daca programme on a nationwide basis on the same terms and conditions as were in effect before the rescission."

“I am still shaking,” said Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn, one of the handful of Dreamers named as plaintiffs in the case,

Latthivongskorn, now 28, came to San Francisco with his parents from Thailand when he was 9. His family struggled to obtain citizenship and was scammed by a lawyer, he said, obscuring their path to legal status. He is now a medical student at UC San Francisco and completing a dual master’s program at Harvard University.

“The key part of this is that we don’t let this ruling be seen in a way as an excuse for Congress not to act,” he told the L.A. Times. “There is no less of an urgency to pass a legislative solution.”

District Judge Alsup said the justice department's argument that the scheme was illegal was based on a "flawed legal premise".

He ordered the government to process renewal applications from people who had previously been covered.

RELATED: Trump ties DACA to the wall

However, this would not be the case for those who had never before received protection under the Deferred Action by Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The Associated Press reports:

"Alsup said lawyers in favor of DACA clearly demonstrated that the young immigrants "were likely to suffer serious, irreparable harm" without court action. The judge also said the lawyers have a strong chance of succeeding at trial. 
"Alsup considered five separate lawsuits filed in Northern California, including one by California and three other states, and another by the governing board of the University of California school system.

DACA covers a class of immigrants whose presence, seemingly all agree, pose the least, if any, threat and allows them to sign up for honest labor on the condition of continued good behavior." 

California Attorney General Becerra, who also filed a suit against the Trump order, said in a statement after Tuesday's decision:

"Dreamers lives were thrown into chaos when the Trump Administration tried to terminate the DACA program without obeying the law. Tonight's ruling is a huge step in the right direction."

Trump announced his intention to end the DACA program in September, leaving it to Congress to come up with a solution on what to do with the 800,000 Dreamers who have already signed up for the program.

Thus far, the GOP-dominated Congress has failed to come up with any legislation regarding DACA.

Trump said that any solution to the DACA situation must also be tied to funding the wall between the U.S. and Mexico that he promised his supporters. Democrats have been against constructing the wall insisting that a clean DACA program be created before any discussion on border security.

Judge Alsup wrote in his decision: "This has become an important program for DACA recipients and their families, for the employers who hire them, for our tax treasuries, and for our economy."

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Thai American med student joins DACA lawsuit vs. Trump administration

INSTAGRAM

Jirayut Latthivongskorn wants to change the world and improve health systems.

A THAI/AMERICAN medical student is one of the six DACA participants suing the Trump administration.

The suit, filed today (Sept. 18) in San Francisco federal court, is the first to be brought by beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program since U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced earlier this month that the Obama-era policy would start winding down in March 2018, according to Garcia’s lawyers.

"Today, I join as one of the co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Trump administration," wrote Jirayut (“New”) Latthivongskorn in his Instagram account.

"Just like how undocumented youth stood up to fight and won the original DACA, it is critical that we, the ones directly affected, are central to our current fight," wrote Jirayut. "Excited to be able to contribute to the chance of stopping the rescission of DACA for 800,000 undocumented folks! Rest assured we will defend DACA AND call on Congress to pass a long term solution that does not further criminalize our communities."

The legal claims in all of the cases, including Garcia‘s, are similar: that the Trump administration did not follow proper administrative procedure in rescinding DACA, and that making enforcement promises to a group of people, only to revoke them, violates due process.

Jirayut was brought to the United States from Thailand when he was nine. He is now a fourth year medical student at University of California San Francisco and a master’s degree candidate in public health at Harvard. 

His DACA work authorization expires in January 2019. Jirayut's medical residency is not set to begin until a few months after that, and could be impossible if he loses his authorization to work legally.

“I have all these big ideas about how I want to change the world and change systems around health care,” he said. “The fact I might not be able to get there is troubling and frustrating.”

Since Obama authorized DACA by Executive Order in 2012, the program has provided protection from deportation and the right to work legally to nearly 800,000 young people. 

Jirayut joins five other plaintiffs, all originally from Mexico, include one licensed attorney, a therapist, a law students and two teachers:

• Dulce Garcia, a San Diego attorney, was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 4, 
• Viridiana Chabolla Mendoza, a Pomona College graduate who is now a first-year law student at UC Irvine. Her family brought her from Mexico to the U.S. when she was 2.
• Norma Ramirez is a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology from the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Since 2016, she has worked at an outpatient clinic in Monrovia, providing school- and home-based therapy to patients in English and Spanish. Her parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 5.
• Miriam Gonzalez Avila, a teacher at Crown Preparatory Academy, an unaffiliated LAUSD charter school in the Jefferson neighborhood of Los Angeles. A 2016 UCLA graduate, she is earning a master’s degree in urban education, policy and administration from Loyola Marymount University. Her family brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 6 years old.
• Saul Jimenez Suarez, a former college football player who is now a special education teacher, coach, and mentor in Los Angeles. His family brought him to the U.S. when he was 1 year old.

He graduated from the University of California-Berkeley, with a bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Throughout college, he funded his education with part-time jobs and private scholarships while staying involved in groups such as the Thai Student Association, Resident Hall Assembly, and the AB540 Coalition on campus. 

RELATED:

• Meet more Asian/American DREAMers 
• Read more about Jirayut's journey to become an activist

Off-campus, he served as a first co-chair of ASPIRE (Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education) at Asian Law Caucus, where he advocated and fought for the passage of the federal and the CA DREAM Act of recent years. As a New American Scholar of Educators for Fair Consideration, a nonprofit organization supporting students in higher education, he shares his personal immigration experience to portray a different side of “DREAMers.”

In April of this year, Jirayut received a 2017 U.S. Public Health Service mission to "protect, promote and advance the health and safety of our Nation.

Although a majority of the DACA beneficiaries are Latino, there are about 17,000 Asian/Americans in the DACA program.

Though Asians account for a significant and growing population of undocumented immigrants in the United States, they had some of the lowest application rates to DACA. Only about 20% of the eligible Korean population applied, and only 23% of eligible Filipinos and 20% of eligible Indians applied, according to the Migration Policy Institute. But 82% of eligible Mexicans applied.

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DACA: Obama breaks his silence; calls reversal 'wrong,' 'cruel,'

WHITE HOUSE FILE

When he was in office, President Barack Obama met with some Dreamers in the Oval office.

THIS MORNING (Sept. 5), former President Obama ended his self-imposed silence to issue a powerful response to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' announcement of the Trump administration's intention to end the DACA program.

The Obama-era program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was created by Presidential Executive Order in 2012 Congress was unable to come up with a solution with what to do with the hundreds of thousands of young people brought to this country by their parents and who grew up in the United States, attended our schools and our churches and spoke English better than some native-born Americans.

Trump decided to put the onus on Congress rather than to act like a leader and take action against the Dreamers, who he professes to love. In six months Congress must come up with a plan, something they have been unable to do, for this same group of young people, something they were unable to do in the eight year's of Obama's presidency.

This morning's action, compelled President Barack Obama to end the silence that he has maintained since he left office almost eight months ago. Here is his complete statement:

Immigration can be a controversial topic. We all want safe, secure borders and a dynamic economy, and people of goodwill can have legitimate disagreements about how to fix our immigration system so that everybody plays by the rules.

But that's not what the action that the White House took today is about. This is about young people who grew up in America -- kids who study in our schools, young adults who are starting careers, patriots who pledge allegiance to our flag. These Dreamers are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents, sometimes even as infants. They may not know a country besides ours. They may not even know a language besides English. They often have no idea they're undocumented until they apply for a job, or college, or a driver's license.

Over the years, politicians of both parties have worked together to write legislation that would have told these young people -- our young people -- that if your parents brought you here as a child, if you've been here a certain number of years, and if you're willing to go to college or serve in our military, then you'll get a chance to stay and earn your citizenship. And for years while I was President, I asked Congress to send me such a bill.

That bill never came. And because it made no sense to expel talented, driven, patriotic young people from the only country they know solely because of the actions of their parents, my administration acted to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people, so that they could continue to contribute to our communities and our country. We did so based on the well-established legal principle of prosecutorial discretion, deployed by Democratic and Republican presidents alike, because our immigration enforcement agencies have limited resources, and it makes sense to focus those resources on those who come illegally to this country to do us harm. Deportations of criminals went up. Some 800,000 young people stepped forward, met rigorous requirements, and went through background checks. And America grew stronger as a result.

But today, that shadow has been cast over some of our best and brightest young people once again. To target these young people is wrong -- because they have done nothing wrong. It is self-defeating -- because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel. What if our kid's science teacher, or our friendly neighbor turns out to be a Dreamer? Where are we supposed to send her? To a country she doesn't know or remember, with a language she may not even speak?

Let's be clear: the action taken today isn't required legally. It's a political decision, and a moral question. Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn't threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us. They are that pitcher on our kid's softball team, that first responder who helps out his community after a disaster, that cadet in ROTC who wants nothing more than to wear the uniform of the country that gave him a chance. Kicking them out won't lower the unemployment rate, or lighten anyone's taxes, or raise anybody's wages.

It is precisely because this action is contrary to our spirit, and to common sense, that business leaders, faith leaders, economists, and Americans of all political stripes called on the administration not to do what it did today. And now that the White House has shifted its responsibility for these young people to Congress, it's up to Members of Congress to protect these young people and our future. I'm heartened by those who've suggested that they should. And I join my voice with the majority of Americans who hope they step up and do it with a sense of moral urgency that matches the urgency these young people feel.

Ultimately, this is about basic decency. This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we'd want our own kids to be treated. It's about who we are as a people -- and who we want to be.

What makes us American is not a question of what we look like, or where our names come from, or the way we pray. What makes us American is our fidelity to a set of ideals -- that all of us are created equal; that all of us deserve the chance to make of our lives what we will; that all of us share an obligation to stand up, speak out, and secure our most cherished values for the next generation. That's how America has traveled this far. That's how, if we keep at it, we will ultimately reach that more perfect union

Obama's response is thoughtful, inspirational, more than 240 characters and a sad reminder of what a President is supposed to sound like.
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Meet some Asian American DACA Dreamers

DONALD TRUMP is expected to announce the end of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, today (Sept. 5) affecting the lives of 800,000 young men and women.

Although, the general impression is that the perfectly legal Executive Order signed in 2012 by President Barack Obama impacts Latino Americans, almost 17,000 undocumented Asian/Americans will be affected.

DACA allows people brought to the U.S. illegally as children the temporary right to live, study and work legally in America. It is not an amnesty program as believed by some of the program's critics.

Those applying are vetted for any criminal history or threat to national security and must be a student or have completed school or military service. If they pass vetting, action to deport them is deferred for two years, with a chance to renew, and they become eligible for basics like a driving license, college enrollment or a work permit.

Those who qualify for DACA, are called Dreamers. You probably know some. They are our neighbors, friends, classmates and co-workers. TThey are ordinary people, hey serve in our military, law enforcement, teach and care for other people. One of them died in Houston last week trying to rescue a victim of Hurricane Harvey.

Here are some of their stories. 

Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, is perhaps the best known. A Filipino/American, he founded the organizations Define American, which created these videos. For more stories of undocumented immigrants, click here.

Contrary to the beliefs of Trump and his supporters, a new survey finds that "DACA has beenunreservedly good for the U.S. ecoomy and U.S. sciety more generally."

A new survey of more than 3,000 DACA recipients from 46 states and DC, issued by Dr. Tom K. Wong of the University of California, San Diego; United We Dream (UWD); the National Immigration Law Center (NILC); and the Center for American Progress, concludes: 

“Our findings could not paint a clearer picture: DACA has been unreservedly good for the U.S. economy and for U.S. society more generally.” Among the key findings from the survey of DACA recipients and the larger report:

• 97% of DACA recipients are currently employed or enrolled in school.
• Average hourly wages rose by 69% after DACA— that means more tax revenue for cities, states, and the U.S.
• 16% of DACA recipients bought houses; 5% started businesses
• At least 72% of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies employ DACA beneficiaries
• DACA beneficiaries will contribute $460.3 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product over the next decade—economic growth that would be lost were DACA to be eliminated.

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