PD Editorial: ‘Dreamers’ are in jeopardy, again

“Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, attended school here, found jobs here, made lives here.

They pay more than $9 billion a year in state and federal income taxes, according to various studies, and spend billions more in local businesses across the country.

Some “Dreamers” were so young when they arrived that they no longer remember their native country.

Yet, once again, their future in the United States is in jeopardy.

On Wednesday, a U.S. District Court judge in Texas ruled that a federal program that protects them from deportation is illegal. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, commonly called DACA, was created by executive order during the Obama administration. It allows undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States before June 15, 2007, and were less than 16 years old at the time, to stay and work, including service in the military, or study on a provisional basis.

About 580,000 people are enrolled in the program.

A large majority of Americans favor permanent protection, and there is support from President Joe Biden and members of both parties in Congress. But Congress has not approved the DREAM Act, legislation first introduced in 2010 to allow the young immigrants to stay.

There’s a sad irony to the legal challenge, brought by nine states, including Texas, Alabama and Arkansas. They argue that “Dreamers” put a burden on public services, including health care. Yet they are employed, including tens of thousands in the health sector, and pay taxes. Meanwhile, asylum-seekers arriving by the thousands at the U.S. border cannot get a work permit for a year or longer. Many are legally entitled to stay pending a ruling on their eligibility for asylum, but immigration courts are underfunded and overloaded, meaning decisions can take months or more.

Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, argues persuasively that allowing asylum-seekers to work — and properly funding immigration courts to expedite decisions — would go a long way toward alleviating the situation at the border and in New York, Los Angeles and other cities where Texas has been sending busloads of asylum-seekers.

“We are a nation of immigrants because we are a land of opportunity,” Bloomberg wrote in a New York Times op-ed. “To deny immigrants the opportunity to work — and force them to rely on public handouts — is as anti-American as anything I can think of. It is harmful not only to the refugees but also to our country, especially at a time when so many businesses are facing labor shortages.”

In the DACA case, Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that President Barack Obama overstepped his constitutional authority. But he allowed DACA to remain in place while the Biden administration appeals his ruling. If the case reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, it will be the second time.

President Donald Trump, despite professing support for “Dreamers,” tried to cancel DACA in 2017. The Supreme Court ruled that Trump failed to provide proper legal justification for ending the program, but the justices didn’t weigh in on whether DACA was lawful.

Congress could lift the cloud by finally passing the DREAM Act. It also should properly fund immigration courts. But with the House unable to pass basic spending bills to keep the government running past Sept. 30, and a single senator blocking hundreds of military promotions, anyone hoping for relief soon is probably dreaming.

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