Trump Administration Must Immediately Start Processing Initial DACA Applications

Hyattsville, MD – Immigrant rights organization CASA and its more than 100,000 lifetime members celebrated today’s Order from Judge Grimm in the District of Maryland, rescinding the termination of DACA and mandating that the government immediately begin accepting new applicants and restore the program to its pre-termination status.

“Today’s decision reaffirms what we already knew and what the Supreme Court already said. The Trump administration’s heartless attempt to terminate the DACA program was illegal and they must immediately begin accepting new DACA applications. ” said Gustavo Torres, CASA’s executive director. “Trump’s xenophobic policy agenda is being stripped apart, demonstrating what 74% of Americans already agree on: DACA should be here to stay.”

Despite an historic victory at the Supreme Court in June striking down the termination of DACA, USCIS has not yet accepted a single new application. Today’s Order from Judge Grimm mandates that the government follow the law and immediately reopen the full DACA program, including by accepting and timely processing initial applications and allowing DACA recipients to apply for Advance Parole.

“We filed this lawsuit because we knew that the Trump administration was trying to cancel DACA for nefarious reasons,” Jesus Perez, plaintiff in the court case. “As a DACA holder and taxpayer, I know how much DACA has meant for me, for my job, and my future, and I think it’s only just that young people who had not applied for the program before it was cancelled have a chance to apply. Today in Maryland, the judge agreed.”

Jesus Perez serves on CASA’s governing board. He is the administrative assistant at Archbishop Borders School, and he dreams of becoming a business owner, launching a design and decoration firm.

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