Only a bipartisan deal this year can save the Dreamers

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has put President Biden and Congressional Democrats on notice, as their ruling on Texas v. United States has set off a chain of events that will certainly turn into a catastrophe should Congress fail to take action by the end of 2022.

Right now, nearly 700,000 Dreamers currently have the ability to work legally and are protected from deportation under President Obama's 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, often referred to as DACA.

However, this group of young immigrants who came here as children are in imminent danger of being stripped of their immigration protections, including the ability to work and drive legally, now that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that DACA is unlawful and sent it back to anti-immigrant Judge Andrew Hanen. One thing is clear, Judge Hanen is no friend of the immigrant community and is likely to act harshly against the DACA program as he has done in the past.

While we have been involved in the immigrant rights movement for much of our lives — including pushing for the creation of DACA, advocating for the Dream Act and a pathway to citizenship for our communities — our stories are not so different from the hundreds of thousands who will be impacted by the Fifth Circuit’s decision.

The average DACA recipient came to this country at the age of 6 and has been here over 22 years. For the past decade DACA, while far from a pathway to citizenship, has allowed us to do things so many people take for granted, whether it is go to school, get a job, drive or financially support a family member in need.

President Trump and his top allies may be gone from the White House, at least for now, but his close allies in Republican-led states and the federal courts are determined on destroying DACA.

In other words, there is too much at risk to either wait for Judge Hanen to end DACA, ask the ultraconservative Supreme Court to take up the DACA case, or to gamble on whether Republicans take control of either chambers of Congress, where Kevin McCarthy has labeled immigration relief as a “nonstarter” should he become the next Speaker.

That is why it is astonishing to us, as older DACA recipients who pushed President Obama’s Administration to create the immigration program, that neither the White House, Congressional Democrats, or progressive organizations have put forth a credible plan to pass legislation before the end of this year.

The Congressional math is not there to pass legislation that fully builds the immigration system that would help this country the most, including a pathway to citizenship for all.

And that will not change today, tomorrow, or next week — so why allow ourselves to live through the repeatedly misguided fantasy about pursuing an all-or-nothing immigration reform strategy?

Instead, advocates and allies should be so bold as to demand that Democrats deliver legislation that fulfills the promises they’ve been making to DACA recipients and Dreamers for over two decades.

Failure to pass legislation in 2022 would be a disaster.

President Biden is likely to avert the mass deportation of DACA recipients and Dreamers — or at least we hope so. Even if mass deportations are avoided in the next few years, President Biden should sign legislation into law rather than try to put in place another temporary program that would likely be stalled by the courts, just as his updated DACA appears destined to be.

Right now, Congress needs to cut a bi-partisan deal and pass immigration legislation in 2022, that means averting the weekly loss of 5,000 work authorizations from DACA recipients over the next two years should the program be terminated.

Congressional staffers should the Fifth Circuit ruling as a wake up call and ensure their bosses (whether they’re seeking re-election or not) do not waste any (and perhaps the only) opportunity to pass immigration legislation — including the upcoming lame duck session of Congress.

Alternatively, if you are part of an advocacy organization reading this piece, then we urge you to get to work and ensure DACA recipients are not further harmed by the inaction on common sense immigration legislation.

Given the unwillingness from Democrats to end the filibuster and use their current majority to pass legislation, Congressional leaders must now commit to engaging in bi-partisan conversations in hopes of genuinely honoring the promises to and investments made in DACA recipients and Dreamers over the past two decades.

This is how we can score a solid legislative victory for the immigrant rights movement.

Only then can we truly begin our working towards our larger goal of providing a path to citizenship even more of the undocumented immigrants across the country — including our parents, loved ones, and communities.