UFW denounces appeals court ruling that keeps farm working families In limbo
United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez issued the following statement from the union’s Keene, Calif. headquarters after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied an emergency stay of the injunction South Texas federal Judge Andrew S. Hanen issued in mid-February temporarily halting implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal decision did not serve justice for the millions of undocumented immigrants and their families living in the U.S., hundreds of thousands of them farm workers. Yet again, anti-immigrant extremists are undermining President Obama’s constitutional and moral efforts to fix our broken immigration system.
Despite this recent setback, we’re confident that relief for hard-working, tax-paying immigrants will triumph. The UFW is optimistic that President Obama’s executive order will prevail. We will not rest until the President’s deferred relief is implemented.
The UFW and UFW Foundation will continue our “Preparase” campaign to help prepare undocumented immigrants for administrative relief and encourage them to remain hopeful that the President and his Department of Justice will ultimately succeed in the courts. We will also keep defending the administrative action protecting immigrants from deportation as well as holding weekly sessions providing the undocumented with the latest immigration information available.
The UFW in April was the among more than 100 organizations filing separate amicus briefs and issuing public statements of support along with governors, attorneys general, law enforcement officials, big city mayors and others in support of the expanded DACA and DAPA programs.
The initial DACA program that was announced by the Obama Administration in 2012 is still in effect. People, who are eligible for 2012 DACA renewals or qualify under the 2012 guidelines are highly encouraged to apply immediately.
For more information about weekly DACA and DAPA information sessions at UFW Foundation offices, visit http://www.sisepuede.org/ or call 877-881-8281.
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