U.S. Supreme Court judges are currently weighing the question of whether President Donald Trump's administration has the legal authority to end the Obama-era Dream Act, which offers residency to immigrants who moved to the U.S. illegally as children. On Thursday, Executive Director of the National Immigrant Forum Ali Noorani stopped by Boston Public Radio to discuss what the court’s decision could mean for the U.S., and for the 2020 election.
"We’re at a point now were we have approximately 800,000 young people with DACA protection. So to rescind that protection [would have] a dramatic impact on the lives and the livelihoods of millions of people across the country,” Noorani said.
This isn’t the first time the Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue. In 2016, in the United States V. Texas case, with a court of only eight justices, the decision was deadlocked four to four. The Trump administration tried again to rescind the program in 2017, which has been tied up in courts up to now.
Noorani noted how entrenched the Dreamers have become since the program was enacted, back in 2012. "This is a generation of young people who have grown up as Americans. Over 90% of them are working. They are contributing from small businesses on Main Street America to corporate America.”
Noorani also made the case that a rescission could spell trouble for the president in the 2020 election. “History has shown that when the Trump administration tries to get a deal with Democrats on immigration, they overreach dramatically, slash legal immigration, ramp up enforcement, and Dreamers are going to be hard pressed … to entertain that sort of compromise months out from an election,” Noorani said.
There were already crowds of protesters outside the Supreme Court Tuesday, as the justices heard arguments in Department of Homeland Security vs. Regents of the University of California. Noorani was in attendance.
“It was really and truly inspirational to be there,” Noorani. "These young people and their families saying, 'This is who we are, and home is here.'"
