‘Termination of DACA during this national emergency would be catastrophic,’ recipients tell SCOTUS
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“Healthcare providers on the frontlines of our nation’s fight against COVID-19 rely significantly upon DACA recipients to perform essential work,” the letter continues. “Approximately 27,000 DACA recipients are healthcare workers—including nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physician assistants, home health aides, technicians, and other staff—and nearly 200 are medical students, residents, and physicians.” It’s inexplicable that the administration would seek to deport them when, as Daily Kos’ Laura Clawson writes, medical schools are considering early graduation in order to send more medical care professionals out to save lives.
It’s not just doctors who are at risk of deportation should the Supreme Court issue a ruling siding with the administration either—it’s also other vital workers like first responders. “Aldo Martinez, a paramedic in Fort Myers, Fla., is one of about 27,000 young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers who work in health care, many of them on the front lines in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic,” The New York Times reported. “’It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation that we have going on,’ he said on Friday, halfway through a 48-hour shift.”
“As an ICU nurse, I am seeing what this COVID-19 crisis is doing to the people of this country first-hand,” registered nurse Jonathan Magdalena said in a statement released by advocacy group United We Dream. “We are working 12-hour shifts to tend to all the COVID-possible patients, often with very little protective gear. This is my dream job, and I am glad to be on the front lines of the nation’s response to this pandemic. But at a time when the country is asking retired army doctors and other offline personnel to step up to help with this emergency, I worry that any day now, the Supreme Court might decide against me on the DACA case, cutting off one more resource to deal with this threat to our country and to the entire world. There are many people with DACA working in our hospitals and health centers. We are essential workers. Let us help heal this nation.”
United We Dream further said that “the Supreme Court has a responsibility to consider the new circumstances,” citing the closure of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices due to the pandemic, “which could delay essential renewals as DACA recipients need to go to these offices in person to have their biometrics taken” for renewal purposes. “This new unknown has caused a ripple effect that compounds anxieties around the real threat of deportations, financial instability, education, access to health care and treatment, and caretaking of their loved ones.”
Of course, DACA should stay not just because many beneficiaries will be critical to our nation’s survival and recovery, but because these are families deserving of dignity and justice—and they belong here. “The COVID-19 pandemic is devastating our communities, and immigrants like me with DACA are frantically working to support our families and communities, all while trying to keep our loved ones safe and healthy,” plaintiff Eliana Fernandez said. “At the community organization where I work, I am working each day to provide support to thousands of our members who are being hit hardest by this crisis. We urge the Court to consider that a decision to take away DACA from us at this moment would be catastrophic, putting us and our families at grave risk.”
Source: Daily Kos NewsColony: Politics
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