FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: young@ncapaonline.org
June 18, 2020
Washington, D.C.— the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), issued the following statement on the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was “arbitrary and capricious.”
We applaud the Supreme Court decision to uphold the DACA program. This decision that would allow the continuation of the program, which allows certain undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children to apply for a temporary protection from deportation. There are about 1.7 million Asian Americans who are undocumented and at least 16,000 are DACA recipients.
Those under the DACA program are also eligible for work authorization and various federal benefits, including unemployment insurance, which would be critical to their well-being during the COVID-19 crisis. While the decision upheld DACA in this instance, there is no guarantee that the Trump administration will stop its efforts to terminate the program.
Now is the time for Congress to unite and lead where the President continues to fail and create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program recipients. With the economic downturn and the ongoing pandemic, immigrant families deserve a government that is committed to protecting them, rather than constantly threatening to cast them out.
Below are the statements from our member organizations:
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
- Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)
- Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA)
- Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF)
- Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
- National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)
- National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
- National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
- National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA)
- National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD)
- National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)
- OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
- Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
- South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
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Based in Washington, D.C., the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans is a coalition of 37 national Asian Pacific American organizations that serves to represent the interests of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and to provide a national voice for our communities’ concerns. Our communities are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, currently making up approximately six percent of the population.