'Dreamers Represent The Very Best': Newsom, Pelosi Respond To Texas Judge's Ruling To Halt DACA
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – After a federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled illegal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on Congress to fix the immigration system and create a clearer pathway to U.S. citizenship.
Though the federal judge blocked new DACA applicants going forward, the existing 616,000 recipients aren't affected–at least for now—and will still be able to renew work permits and deportation deferrals.
"Dreamers represent the very best of who we are as a nation: Hardworking. Aspirational. Filled with hope for the future," Newsom tweeted Friday.
DACA was created in 2012 to provide a temporary reprieve to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.
Friday's decision blocks tens of thousands of immigrant teenagers and young adults from accessing the Obama-era legal protections, CBS News reports. The federal judge ruled the Obama administration violated federal administrative law when DACA was established through a Department of Homeland Security memo, instead of being open to comments from the public.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats are calling on Republicans in Congress to join in "respecting the will of the American people and the law, to ensure that Dreamers have a permanent path to citizenship."
"Today's wrongly-decided ruling brazenly flouts the law & precedent, as it casts a cloud of fear & uncertainty around #Dreamers, who are a pride of our nation. Democrats will continue to press for any & all paths to ensure that the Dream & Promise Act becomes the law of the land," Pelosi tweeted.
