Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement after U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen declined to issue a preliminary injunction in Texas’ lawsuit to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“I’m glad the court recognized that halting DACA would not serve the best interests of the country. Congress must act to spare undocumented youth from further pain and uncertainty resulting from the crisis President Trump created. Terminating DACA would put thousands of hard-working young people in danger of deportation, cruelly separate families, threaten U.S. businesses with billions in turnover costs, and undermine America’s economic potential. Congress must work together in a bipartisan way to finally give DREAMers the security of knowing they may continue to live in the only country they’ve ever known.”
BACKGROUND:
In May, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and six other Republican Attorneys General sued the federal government to terminate DACA, arguing the program causes the states “financial harm through health care, education and law enforcement costs.” In fact, DACA beneficiaries contribute $42 billion in annual GDP and over $3 billion in federal, state, and local taxes every year.