Calls for clarity from Harris campaign on future of migrant protections

Immigration advocacy groups, fighting two lawsuits from Republican states over protections for Dreamers and undocumented relatives, called for clarity and reassurance from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of a hearing on a challenge to DACA scheduled for Thursday, the groups said Biden and Harris had shown support for two of the biggest steps forward in immigration reform in recent years, but needed to be more vocal on opposing the GOP-backed suits.

Another case, over Biden’s program to offer a clearer path to green cards of undocumented spouses and children, will not be heard until at least November 5, which happens to be election day.

“What binds these cases together is they are both a malicious effort to end programs that provide a legal path for long-settled immigrants in the U.S.,” Vanessa Cardenas, executive director at America’s Voice said.

“It is a cynical and cruel effort to ensure as many people as possible are deportable, if and when Donald Trump takes office and when the elements of Project 2025 and his mass deportation efforts begin to be carried out.”

Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment via email Tuesday afternoon.

Ongoing fight to reinstate DACA

Over one million people could be affected by the outcome of two suits, litigators, advocates, and impacted individuals told reporters Tuesday, ahead of a hearing in the case Texas v. United States in New Orleans.

A hearing in a similar case, Texas v. DHS, arguing against Biden’s Keeping Families Together program, was due to take place on Thursday as well.

Republican Attorneys General from nine states have been locked in a battle to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects those brought into the U.S. illegally as children from deportation.

The 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has been called the “Trumpiest” court in America, is now set to hear arguments from both sides, again, after a block on the program was approved in a Texas court in 2021.

The groups on the call Tuesday said they would seek to get the case thrown out, arguing a lack of evidence that Dreamers were adversely affecting state finances.

Around 300 Dreamer families are expected to attend the hearing in Louisiana, one of the states suing the Biden administration.

“DACA has been under litigation risk for longer than it hasn’t been,” Todd Shulte, president of FWD.us, told reporters, praising those who have kept the program going.

“Every day that DACA is open is hundreds of thousands of bedtimes for kids, hundreds of thousands of meals, and hundreds of thousands of being able to look over at a partner and just being bale to feel a little better when going to bed at night.”

The hearing comes as GOP states have also sued over plans to offer healthcare to DACA recipients.

Wait goes on for mixed-status families

Those affected by the stay in place on Keeping Families Together (KFT) will have to wait a while longer, with future hearings now pushed back until after the election.

The program, which would allow around half a million undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for permanent resident status without leaving the country, was due to begin late August but was blocked almost immediately when 16 GOP states sued the Department of Homeland Security.

The program was initiated by the Biden administration, with the president speaking out after the initial pause.

“That ruling is wrong,” Biden said in a statement. “These families should not be needlessly separated. They should be able to stay together, and my Administration will not stop fighting for them.”

Despite that message, calls came Tuesday for clarity from Vice President Harris on what she would do, should a judge rule in favor of the plaintiff states after the election.

“Families are just in limbo again, like they have been for decades,” Ashley DeAzevedo, president of American Families United, said, adding that the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the campaign season had not helped with anxieties felt by mixed-status families.

Greisa Martinez Rosas, a DACA recipient and executive director of United We Dream Action, added that families had been left confused.

“We know exactly what future is outlined in Project 2025 under Trump,” she said, referring to plans for mass deportations and the end of programs like the two targeted by these suits.

“There is no proactive vision from the Harris campaign now on how to keep families together, if the DACA program ends,” Rosas added. “This is a crucial moment for clarity, and explicit commitments to our community, that are not being met in this moment.”

Newsweek reached out to the Harris campaign and the White House for comment via email Tuesday afternoon.

When speaking about immigration on the campaign trail, Harris has said she is committed to reintroducing the Bipartisan Border Bill, which would include provisions for speeding-up adjudications of immigration cases and ease pathways to citizenship for those who have called the U.S. home for several years.

Current DACA recipients can still renew their status, but new applications are closed while legal action is underway. For KFT, applications are still being accepted but decisions will not be made.