Dreamers are part of America. They are a part of the core fabric of Silicon Valley. But what does the future hold for them with the new ruling of the Supreme Court on the DACA case?
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook’s Involvement on the DACA Case
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook filed an amicus brief stating that the Supreme Court has a moral obligation to save DREAMERs from deportation. At that time, Apple had employed about 443 Dreamers.
Supreme Court’s Ruling
On June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled on a 5-4 vote that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was “arbitrary and capricious.” It basically means that the Trump administration didn’t follow the rules for how you can change government programs when they canceled DACA.
What This Means for Immigration Now
As a result of the ruling, the Trump administration cannot cancel DACA. These individuals called Dreamers – who have DACA and who are currently in the United States – are going to continue to have this DACA Temporary Protection so that they cannot be deported. Along with that comes a work permit. It’s not a visa or a green card. Therefore, it’s still not a path to actual citizenship.
The Next Steps
This is not the end-all-be-all solution for this program because it could still end. For now, the Department of Homeland Security is legally responsible to maintain the program and keep it going until they end it in the proper and correct way.
However, the majority of Americans from across the political spectrum want Dreamers protected with permanent residence in America. With Congress having the opportunity to pass a bipartisan solution, hopefully, things will be moving in the right direction.
For more information and resources on the DACA ruling and what it means for immigration, check out Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast. If you’d like to listen, head over to 023: Update on DACA, Trump, H-1B, Rule of Law.