New York, NY—Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York declined to provide relief to the plaintiffs in Batalla Vidal v. Mayorkas, which include nearly 100,000 first-time Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applicants whose applications are in limbo and DACA recipients applying to renew their status after a year or more lapse. The New York Immigration Coalition condemns this decision and demands President Biden and Congress provide permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people in the United States.
Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:
“Yesterday’s decision from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York is deeply disappointing and infuriating, as the livelihoods of nearly 100,000 DACA-eligible young people who have never known any other home outside of the United States are once again endangered. DACA has provided critical protections for young people, families, and communities for a decade, and for the courts to dismiss it is to cruelly jeopardize new applicants seeking this essential relief. As our courts and conservative politicians continue to deny immigrant communities their basic rights and humanity, our Democratic leaders cannot continue to deflect responsibility, and must pass meaningful immigration reform. As we await another pending court decision on DACA from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, it is increasingly imperative that Congress and President Biden defend our DACA-eligible young people and the 11 million undocumented people who call the United States home by providing permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship.”
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