Commentary: Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) issued the following statement on the Supreme Court case to determine the validity of President Trump’s decision to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the program that protects thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today to examine whether the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate DACA was lawful. Previous lower court decisions have supported the legal grounds for the DACA program.
“New Mexico is home to thousands of Dreamers – valued members of our communities who have families, jobs, and aspirations, and who strengthen our state and our nation. Their home is here. But heartless and short-sighted actions taken by President Trump and his allies in Congress have forced Dreamers in New Mexico and across the country to live every day for the past two years in limbo and fear.
“President Trump created this mess when he rescinded the DACA program, and he has repeatedly destroyed bipartisan momentum toward action to protect Dreamers – demanding funding for his toxic immigration policies and attacking immigrant families. And for the last five months, House-passed legislation offering a path to citizenship for Dreamers has been buried in Majority Leader McConnell’s legislative graveyard. Republicans in Washington, including the president, have said they support a solution for Dreamers. It is past time they deliver real action – not just empty words – to these young Americans who deserve protection, and stop using them as pawns to be traded for other unpopular policies.
“We should never have gotten to this point. But regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision, I will never stop fighting to give Dreamers real certainty by passing permanent protections for these hardworking Americans and their families who are vital to our communities, who teach in our schools and serve in our military, and who enrich our state and nation.”