Washington, D.C. June 15, 2020— Eight years ago today, after immigrant youth and allies led years of organizing to demand a stop to the pain of deportations, President Obama took to the Rose Garden to announce the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The program granted protection from deportation and temporary work authorization for nearly 800,000 undocumented young people. Despite its success and broad public support, President Trump tried to end DACA in 2017. Several federal courts have ruled in favor of DACA recipients, states, and other institutions that sued to stop him. Trump appealed to the  Supreme Court, which is expected to rule any day now.

The Home Is Here Coalition – representing over 100 organizations across the country – released the following statement:

“Immigrant youth and allies fiercely fought for DACA; it was not handed out by politicians. Their courageous effort made it so nearly 800,000 recipients have been protected from deportation. DACA’s protections allowed immigrants to transform their lives in the last eight years by going to school, furthering their careers, purchasing homes, raising kids, and so much more. When Trump chose to kill DACA, we fought back all the way to the Supreme Court.

“A decision on DACA from the Supreme Court could come any day now, in a moment of courageous uprising. Black people and allies have taken to the streets to protest the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and more at the hands of police and to call for the defunding of the police force. Protestors have been met with more violence by police, the military, and other agencies like ICE and CBP. The same ICE and CBP that have been deployed on protesters across the country have been on the record saying that if the Supreme Court were to side with Trump, they would move towards deporting DACA recipients.

“Trump put all DACA recipients and their families at risk of jailing and deportation. Trump can stop his own crisis; he can remove the case from the Supreme Court and keep immigrant young people protected from deportation. As we commemorate another anniversary of DACA, we’re reminded of all the attacks we’ve had to fight back against to ensure DACA stays in place. It’s a reminder that those directly impacted and most marginalized are best able to bring about transformative change.

“No matter the Supreme Court’s decision, our coalition will continue to fight for immigrants and their families until all people in our community feel safe and welcome, because our home is here.”

The Home Is Here national coalition is fighting to protect DACA recipients, their families, and all immigrant communities at the U.S. Supreme Court. DACA recipients are undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. They are also our nurses, our teachers, our coworkers, our family members, and our friends — and their home is here. For more information visit HomeIsHere.Us