DACA ruling creates frustration for young undocumented immigrants

Federal judge blocks new DACA requests 1:35

(CNN) -

After navigating life in the U.S. for 17 years without legal status, Yazmin Bruno-Valdez entered, less than a month ago, the Deferred Action Program for Childhood Arrivals (DACA, for its acronym in English) of the Obama era, granting him long-awaited protection from deportation and the possible opening of bright new paths for jobs, scholarships and travel.

The 20-year-old college girl found herself crying with joy last Monday after getting her Kansas driver's license, marveling at how it felt to drive home, free from the fear that a harmless traffic violation could lead to an encounter with immigration officials who could expel her from the country.

But that brief sense of freedom and possibility faded Friday night when a federal judge in Texas ruled that the 2012 DACA program, created by former President Barack Obama, was illegal.

DACA recipients celebrate first Biden decrees 3:08

US District Judge Andrew Hanen, appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, said DACA recipients can keep their status for now and can continue to renew it every two years.

But the program will cease to exist for the tens of thousands of applicants waiting on the DACA track.

It was another cruel twist of fate on Bruno-Valdez's journey, one that has left her awash with fear, guilt and uncertainty.

When the ruling was rendered on Friday night, he said he felt as though he had been awarded Willy Wonka's "golden ticket" just before that privilege was taken away from so many others who he believes so deserved it.

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"I'm so mad that a lot of this was due to luck," Bruno-Valdez said in an interview Saturday.

"I feel terrible. I feel very guilty. I feel like I pressured so many people to apply."

• What is DACA: the program that protects “dreamers” from deportation

Even though Bruno-Valdez entered the show before it was outlawed, that doesn't give him much peace of mind.

"What if the [DACA] program ends completely and now they have our exact location?" Asked Bruno-Valdez.

"They have our address. They have all the information they may need to deport us. And what if there is another ruling that simply removes these protections?" He continued.

Frustrated hopes of a bigger opportunity with Biden

Many of the more than 600,000 DACA recipients are now contemplating those same "what if" scenarios as they find their lives turned upside down by another court ruling.

They are angered by the countless promises of members of Congress from both parties who said they would find a permanent legislative solution for a program that was always intended to be temporary.

The impact of the ruling has been compounded by the fact that many DACA recipients believed they were safe when President Joe Biden was elected in 2020, after four years of hostility and demonization of immigrants by former President Donald Trump.

Although Trump tried to end the DACA program in 2017, the Supreme Court ultimately prevented him from doing so.

But with the more conservative composition of the Court after Trump appointed his third judge last year, it is impossible to predict if he would do so again.

Santiago Potes, First Latino to DACA Rhodes Fellow 1:13

"For a moment, there was like a blade of light that shone in the dark times, and it was like, 'okay, things are really going to get better now,'" said Frida Adame, a 25-year-old DACA recipient from Houston, whose sister applied for the show a few months ago and is now among those cut by Friday night's decision.

"But then with this glitch, the light that was happening just dimmed and now it's dark again ... We have absolutely no idea what's going to happen next, and that's scary," he said.

The struggle of many families

Adame noted that after becoming a DACA recipient in 2015, she was able to better care for her family members who are undocumented.

"All the apartments and places that we have been, are in my name," he said.

"In a way it was very difficult, because I was 19 years old and a whole family on top of me, with my back turned," he said.

Now he worries about how his sister will make her way and find a well-paying job without documents.

"Maybe 10 years ago it was easy to get a job anywhere without documents. Today they don't even hire you at a Walmart," he said.

"At this point, we just need Congress to act and Democrats to act ... Without the help of Congress, it's like we're not even in this country. It's like they're trying to erase us," he said.

Congressional difficulties over DACA

Many of the so-called

Dreamers

 hope that the Democrats, who have the runoff vote in the Senate evenly divided, will create permanent protections for themselves and other immigrant groups through the budget process known as reconciliation, which would only need the support of 50 Democrats.

But there are many obstacles ahead in that process, even if the Senate MP would consider the immigration provisions relevant to that special budget process.

Activists: Court sided with immigrants 1:50

While some Republican senators have expressed interest in helping DACA recipients, it is unclear whether Hanen's ruling will generate more bipartisan support for the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 in a 50-50 Senate, at a time when the two sides are at war over the dramatic influx of migrants across the southern border.

The bill, which would create a path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants who came to this country as children, as well as recipients of Temporary Protected Status and others, was approved by the House of Representatives in March, with the support of nine Republicans.

Biden, who took some intermediate steps to strengthen the DACA program when he entered the White House, called Hanen's ruling "deeply disappointing" on Saturday, and said the US Justice Department would appeal the decision.

But the legal prospects look challenging as the case makes its way to the staunchly conservative US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

'My whole life is here'

For the tens of thousands of applicants who first began applying for the program after a federal judge in New York ruled last December that the federal government must accept new DACA applications, the ruling is devastating.

Valeria Mata, a 17-year-old DACA applicant from Illinois, said she waited to apply until Trump left office because his policies "almost made us want to hide."

Biden's election, he said, "was like a shred of hope."

But Hanen's decision crushed her.

"I was really basing my whole future on this opportunity," Mata said, after finishing her Saturday night shift at a perfume store.

"He had so many different plans and things he wanted to do that now seem much more distant," he lamented.

Lawyer and undocumented immigrant will occupy state office in the US 3:58

Aspiring psychologist who hopes to work in the mental health field helping to erase stigma among people of color, Mata has watched in frustration as her younger brother, who is a U.S. citizen, enters the workforce, immediately earning higher salaries. and with better benefits, while she is forced to settle for what employers will give her.

"I know that Biden is going to keep fighting and that we will keep fighting for DACA," Mata said.

"But there is always the fear of being deported. That is really scary because my whole life is here. I have only met 10% of the people who are related to me in Mexico. So it is quite scary to think that I would have to get used to an environment. Completely different. I've been here since I was two, so I don't know anything but life in America, "he said.

The claim to the Biden government for DACA

After Hanen's ruling, many DACA recipients are unsure how long the program will exist or when the next court ruling could change their fate.

Some say the Biden administration should have moved more quickly to address the backlog of applications.

It's that the delay in processing the applications of so many on the DACA path now means that those young people have lost the opportunity to obtain protections from the program.

Immigration advocates note that part of Hanen's ruling underscores how fragile the stay he granted is when it comes to protecting current DACA recipients.

In his permanent injunction, Hanen wrote that his stay depended on the government's willingness to address his concerns about the program.

"If the Government does not take adequate measures to remedy the deficiencies in DACA within a reasonable time, given the complexities inherent in said process, the Court will reconsider its decision to suspend parts of the reparation it has granted," the judge wrote.

Are dreamers closer to the American dream?

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Ju Hong, a DACA recipient who recently lost his job at the Alameda County Department of Public Health as well as his health insurance after his work permits expired due to delayed processing of program renewals, said the Language of the ruling underscores the uncertainty so many are feeling.

Although his status has now been renewed, he cares for those who have seen his plans shattered.

"We need the Biden administration and the Democratic Congress to deliver on their promises to provide citizenship for everyone, for everyone, so that we don't have to be in this limbo every two years," Hong said in an interview Sunday.

"We are tired of living like this, with this fear, anxiety and stress. I can't wait any longer. Enough is enough," he added.

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