General
Final DACA Brief October 2019
Final DACA Brief October 2019
In the Supreme Court of the United States, Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, Brief of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other Christian organizations in support of respondents, October 4, 2019
Amici have long watched with pride and admiration as recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) live out their daily lives with hope and a determination to flourish and contribute to society: continuing to work and provide for their families, serve in the military, and receive an education.2 Amici have long supported and defended DACA recipients, a position grounded in its interest in promoting the defense of human dignity in the country’s immigration laws, particularly as applied to youth and families. And this interest is not abstract; indeed, the most recent data from the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Surveys indicates that over the last five years:
- 85–90% of Catholic and community immigration legal programs (“Programs”) offered legal services for DACA renewals or applications, accounting for 7,000–14,000 such submissions per year;
- 41% of Programs conducted at least one DACA renewal info session as community outreach in the last year;
- DACA applications made up 18–20% of the total caseload for the Programs.
Amici are mindful of the effect DACA’s rescission would have on religious education. For example, over seventy leaders of Catholic educational institutions have explained that their schools share a long history of welcoming students from diverse backgrounds and stressed their hope that “the students in our communities who have qualified for DACA are able to continue their studies without interruption and that many more students in their situation will be welcome to contribute their talents to our campuses.”
Rescinding DACA will also have a significant effect on health care provision in this country. For instance, Catholic health care provides more than 15 percent of hospital services in America. As employers of millions of dedicated health care professionals, Catholic health care has seen firsthand how DACA recipients have benefitted its organizations and patients as nurses, physicians, aides, dietary workers and facility professionals, and know how much they contribute to their communities and to the economy.
This case has a direct impact on the nearly 700,000 current DACA recipients, as well as their families and communities. These individuals, who arrived in this country unlawfully through no fault of their own, contribute significantly to the country’s culture and economy.7 The fundamental promise of DACA is that, for individuals like these, the United States Government will deprioritize prying apart their families and forcing them to leave the only country they have known so long as they contribute and follow the rules.