The resistance to Trump's rescinding of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (or DACA) program continues today as San Diego-based attorney Dulce Garcia files a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court against the administration. Garcia's case is especially notable, as it's the first case regarding DACA's end filed by a DACA recipient, otherwise known as a "Dreamer."
Garcia is one of 800,000 Dreamers, as she explained to Reuters. She first came to the country at the age of four with her parents, who worked in Southern California as a hotel housekeeper and a welder. In 2013, a year after DACA was announced by then-President Obama, Garcia jumped at the chance to apply for a Social Security Number, and she now works full time as an attorney, though only partly on immigration cases.
This suit, which names six total Dreamers as plaintiffs including Garcia, joins other lawsuits that have already been filed against the administration's decision. Last Monday, the state of California also filed suit in San Francisco, calling the decision unconstitutional. That particular lawsuit includes several state attorneys general as plaintiffs, with Attorney General Xavier Becerra leading the charge. As well, the University of California school system filed a suit, saying that the decision violates due process as described in the Fifth Amendment. Fifteen other states, including New York and Washington, have also responded in kind, filing a separate lawsuit in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
Meanwhile, stories and accounts of Dreamers' experiences continue to spread, with the hopes of combating the sometimes dehumanizing rhetoric that surrounds their existence, particularly in conservative media circles. NPR recently shared an interview with Dan Lee, who came to the U.S. from South Korea when he was a child. His parents had apparently tried to become citizens, but fell victim to an immigration scam. As of right now, Lee is in his fourth year of studying political science at American University in Washington, D.C., an opportunity which he credits to his being able to participate in the DACA program.
There are loads of stories about people like Lee, and so many of them (if not all of them) deserve to be heard. But whether they'll be heard by the people who will soon decide on the hopes and dreams of these 800,000 Dreamers remains yet to be seen. One thing's for certain though: folks will be fighting tooth and nail to defend DACA.
Related: Photos: Thousands Protest DACA Repeal Outside SF Federal Building