The following statement was made by OPEIU President Richard Lanigan in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the rights of DACA recipients in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California.

The Supreme Court’s ruling today is a landmark victory for a group of hardworking young people who deserve to live and work without fear of deportation or repression. Though OPEIU celebrates this milestone victory, there is more work to be done to fully win justice for DREAMers. 

We must now shift our focus to ensuring DREAMers can become U.S. citizens and fully take part in the civic life of the country they’ve called home since childhood. Many of these young people, ninety percent of whom are employed, often pay more in taxes and contribute more to our society than their employers do. Nearly 30,000 nationwide worked on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic while being threatened with deportation by the Trump administration.

Though DACA recipients were narrowly delivered some justice today by the Supreme Court, OPEIU is committed to working toward a more just future where DREAMers can call themselves U.S. citizens.