ALBUQUERQUE — Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on whether President Trump has the legal authority to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, New Mexico Voices for Children Executive Director James Jimenez issued this statement.
“We are pleased with today’s [June 18] ruling on the DACA case. There are limitations on any one person’s right to make unilateral decisions that impact millions of American families, even for the person holding the highest office in the nation.
“Born of the failure of Congress to enact true immigration reform, DACA has never been a perfect program, but it is a step in the right direction for the hundreds of thousands of young people born in another country. For many of these youth, America is the only home they have ever known. To deport them to what is, for some of them, a foreign country does not align to American values of fairness, inclusion, and the dream of a better life through hard work.
“Unfortunately, DACA is not a path to citizenship, and making it one must be our goal moving forward. DACA recipients are students, employees, and employers. They are parents, siblings, and children. They pay taxes and make unique contributions to their communities and our state and it’s time we granted them the path to citizenship that they’ve earned.”
By James Jimenez
Executive Director
N.M. Voices for Children
