Microsoft celebrates Supreme Court DACA win which restores protection for Dreamers

In a 5-4 decision, the US Supreme court ruled the department of homeland security had violated a federal administrative law with its policy ending Daca, the Obama-era program allowing undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children to live and work legally in the US.

Microsoft had initiated the lawsuit three years ago in 2017 with Princeton University and one of its undergraduate students.

The lawsuit challenged the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, with  Microsoft and others argued that terminating the program will severely harms the student and other Dreamers and the employers and educational institutions that rely on and benefit from their contributions.

In a blog post today Microsoft celebrated the victory, saying it could not have come at a better time, as it become increasingly clear what a crucial role Dreamers played in America.

Smith notes:

The past few months have provided even more dramatic evidence of the role that DACA registrants play in our country. More than 30,000 of them work in the healthcare space alone. They are nurses, lab technicians and respiratory therapists who serve Americans from all backgrounds as our country responds to a pandemic that is unique in our lifetimes. Another 200,000 Dreamers provide other essential services, working in pharmacies and grocery stores and delivering vital goods to our front doors. In the middle of a pandemic, any step that puts Dreamers at risk can put all of us at risk. 

With Donald Trump complaining that the Supreme Court was against him and that more conservative judges needed to be appointed to uphold conservative values, Smith warned that the fight was not over and argued for an enduring solution which found common ground between all the stakeholders.

Read more at Microsoft here.