Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will block the Trump Administration’s misguided attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA, which was established by former President Barack Obama in 2012, provides protection against deportation and work authorization to over 600,000 individuals in the United States.
“We applaud the Court’s decision, which will provide some stability and safety for the thousands of individuals who benefit from the DACA program, including many students and staff within the Harvard community,” said Jason Corral, Staff Attorney for the Harvard Representation Initiative (HRI), which provides free legal representation to members of the Harvard community who have concerns about their immigration status. “This is welcome news, in these trying times, knowing that an important part of our community will remain intact.”
The Harvard Representation Initiative (HRI) is a project of Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, one of the oldest immigration law clinics in the country. HRI was founded in 2017 after President Trump announced the rescission of DACA and has since provided legal assistance to hundreds of Harvard students and staff.
“While we are overjoyed by today’s decision, DACA is still a temporary fix and does not offer a pathway to permanent legal residency or citizenship. Our clinic will continue to work with DACAmented and undocumented members of the Harvard community to fight for long-term immigration relief,” said Sabrineh Ardalan, Director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program.
Harvard students or staff who have immigration concerns should contact HRI to schedule a free legal consultation by calling 617-495-6648 or emailing hri@law.harvard.edu.
Image by Melanie Cervantes.