'Equal justice to the foreign born can be celebrated today.' — Queens' Latino Lawyers Assoc. responds to DACA decision

Thomas Oliva is the president of the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County. Eagle photo by Caroline Ourso

By the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County

Equal justice to the foreign born can be celebrated today in small measure at the Supreme Court’s ruling in DHS v. Regents.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipients, hardworking and achieving young people can have some measure of security as they sleep tonight. Close to a million Americans are affected by this decision.

Once again a federal court has underlined the illegal behavior of the Trump Administration in a slender 5 - 4 decision. 

Unfortunately, the numbers on this decision only go to underscore the precarious nature of a judicial check on the Executive Branch’s extreme behavior.

The limbo we remain in and the incessant drum beat of xenophobia in Washington will only stop when members of both sides of the political spectrum stand up for a common sense solution of a permanent fix to this humanitarian issue.

DACA recipients to whom the United States has been the only home they know have time and time again shown themselves to be industrious contributing members to our American tapestry not the least of which is our own Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County former President and present Assemblyperson Catalina Cruz. We need the Senate to take up and pass and enact H.R. 6 “The American Dream and Promise Act” to give a permanent rest to this issue. The time is now!