Thirteen years ago today, President Obama issued an executive order that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). DACA protects people who were brought to the United States as children from being deported. The program was born out of years of advocacy and mobilization led by young people in immigrant communities. Since 2012, DACA has empowered more than 800,000 recipients to participate fully in their communities, go to school, and obtain work permits in the U.S.
The program gives Dreamers relief to live their lives without the constant threat of deportation from the only country they have ever known. Here in New Jersey – a state in which nearly one in every four people are immigrants and one in six have at least one immigrant parent – there are more than 16,000 DACA recipients. They are integral members of their communities and essential to the fabric of our state. Everyone deserves to live their lives guided by hope, not fear, and DACA has made this a reality for so many in New Jersey and across the country.
Yet while the creation and implementation of DACA was a major milestone for immigrants’ rights, it does not provide legal permanent residency or a path to citizenship. And the future of DACA and other vital programs is uncertain; like many programs designed to keep families together and empower immigrant communities to thrive, DACA continues to face legal challenges by anti-immigrant opposition.
As the Trump administration aggressively targets community members for detention and deportation, New Jersey must do more to defend immigrants’ rights.
The ACLU of New Jersey is working alongside community partners to enact important protections for immigrant communities through the Immigrant Trust Act, which will allow New Jerseyans to seek support from state and local agencies without fear of deportation. The Act draws a bright line between local agencies and federal immigration enforcement, preserving our state resources for local priorities while keeping our communities safer and our families together.
Passing the Immigrant Trust Act is a major step in building a fair and welcoming state for all people, no matter their immigration status. Tell your lawmakers: we need the Immigrant Trust Act to better protect immigrant New Jerseyans.
On this anniversary of DACA, we celebrate the courage, resilience, contributions, and lives of Dreamers across the country and call for expanded protections for immigrant communities. Every person in the U.S. deserves to live with safety, opportunity, and freedom in the place they call home. DACA has helped make this possible for thousands of New Jerseyans, and now the Garden State can do more by enacting the Immigrant Trust Act.
