Dreamers are ‘no threat to our country,’ Fresno councilmember argues at DACA rally

Dozens rallied Tuesday in downtown Fresno as the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case with profound implications for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

The court heard oral arguments as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that prevents the deportation of immigrants who came to the county illegally as children.

The California Justice Department is spearheading the efforts of nearly two dozen states seeking to protect the state’s 200,000 DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers.” City officials estimate there are around 5,000 DACA recipients in Fresno.

As the court’s conservative justices seemed poised to allow Trump to abolish protections under the seven-year-old program, a large crowd protested in front of the Robert E. Coyle Federal Building in Fresno.

“These aren’t folks who are a threat to our country,” Fresno Councilmember Miguel Arias told the crowd of DACA supporters. “They were brought here in no fault of their own. They’ve done what was asked of them.”

Arguing in favor of ending the program, Solicitor General Noel Francisco, restated Trump’s position that DACA is illegal.

“DACA was a temporary stop-gap measure that, on its face, could be rescinded at any time,” Francisco said. “And the department’s reasonable concerns about its legality and its general opposition to broad non-enforcement policies provided more than a reasonable basis for ending it.”

The court has until June 2020 to rule on DACA’s fate.

The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.

This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 5:13 PM.