Dreamers, as the recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are known, are
celebrating
.
A federal judge in New York on Friday ordered the government of Donald Trump to restore the program in its entirety.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who had already overturned the program's suspension in a ruling issued in mid-November, ruled on Friday that, no later than Monday, the federal government must publish on all its websites that it is accepting applications for
new applicants.
who qualify for the program, but have not been able to enroll.
Astrid Silva, activist and executive director of the Dream Big Nevada organization, assured in an interview with Noticias Telemundo that she felt "happiness" after the ruling.
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"I was privileged to get DACA and I know how much it hurt our younger boys that we couldn't apply," he said.
New applications to the program were not possible since Trump announced its termination in September 2017.
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An estimated
1 million
eligible undocumented immigrant teens and young adults could apply in the wake of Friday's ruling.
"
This has been a roller coaster
, sometimes we are going up, sometimes we are going down.
Hopefully all this will stop when the (Joe) Biden Administration begins
," added Silva.
The Democrat promised to restore DACA and open federal aid to Dreamers so they can pay for their studies.
Silva is one of the best known faces in the defense of immigrants after Obama told his story to illustrate the situation of the undocumented in the country.
He arrived in the United States after crossing the Rio Grande on a raft made with tires when he was only 4 years old.
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The judge added that the outgoing Administration will also have
to accept renewal and
advanced parole
requests
under the terms in which these benefits were granted before the decommissioning.
Garaufis, who is presiding over the District Court in Brooklyn, also ordered the government to grant applicants
work permits that last two years instead of one year,
the period proposed by the Trump Administration during the summer.
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Like Silva, the dreamer Eliana Fernández
could not contain her joy
.
"I am very happy, especially for the people who can now apply for the first time. I think it is a
very significant gain for many of us,
" she told Efe news agency shortly after hearing the news.
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"I had the afternoon free and I had turned off the phone and when I turned it on I had almost 100 text messages" with the message about Judge Nicholas Garaufis' decision, "said Fernández, who
was affected by reducing the renewal of the your work permit.
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Fernández is one of the plaintiffs in the case "Wolf v. Batalla Vidal" that a group of young people receiving the program presented in federal Court for the Eastern District of New York in 2017, challenging the decision that President Trump had made to repeal that protection that had protected them from deportation.
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Johana Larios, another plaintiff in this case, highlighted for her part that immigrant youth have resisted the continuous attacks "by this cruel Administration."
"Once again we have won," he
celebrated.
Can Trump appeal the ruling?
For the lawyer Alma Rosa Nieto, this Friday's ruling shows that "the federal courts of this country do work."
"They demanded that USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) put on its website on Monday, December 7, the details of how first-timers can and where they have to apply," he said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.
"This is very good news," he stressed.
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However, the lawyer explained that
it is still possible for Trump to appeal the decision.
"There is some pending litigation in Texas," he
said, although he hopes there will be no change before Biden takes power.
What do the dreamers have to do now?
Nieto recommends that the dreamers
"start preparing, have the necessary documentation, get advice and go to the USCIS page on Monday, December 7
to see the instructions before sending anything and start collecting the proofs of both stay and school, as well as their identity documents. "
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A hope with Biden
The co-executive director of Make the Road New York, another plaintiff in the battle for the program's permanence, said today's decision
"marks another victory for undocumented youth."
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"Since its inception, the Trump Administration has tried to end the program and has left hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients and eligible youth in limbo" for that initiative, he noted.
"Now
we have defeated them again.
As we celebrate this victory,
we hope to ensure that the incoming Biden Administration provides permanent protection for DACA recipients
and a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented people in this country," he said.
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"This is a great victory for immigrant youth, led by immigrant youth. We would not be celebrating this day if it weren't for our brave plaintiffs who fought to affirm that #HomeIsHere (Home is here)," the Center said in a tweet. National for Immigration Law (NILC), a pro-immigrant group.
"This is a day to celebrate and
we look forward to working with the incoming Biden Administration
to create a
permanent solution for youth
and
immigrant communities
," he warned.
With information from Efe and NBC News.
