Attorney General Ford Leads Multistate Effort to Protect DACA


October 4, 2019

Carson City, NV – Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s unlawful rescission of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The brief was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of University of California, et. al. By ending the DACA program, more than 669,000 undocumented young people who came to the U.S. as children could be at risk for deportation.

    “DACA recipients are members of the Nevada family, and we take care of our family,” said Attorney General Ford. “By ending DACA, the Trump Administration turned its back on hundreds of thousands of young people who want nothing more than to continue living and working in the country they call home. Dreamers make America, and Nevada, great. I will continue to fight for them and for our Nevada family.”

      “Nevada’s 12,000 DACA recipients are hard-working members of our communities who contribute to our state every day,” added Governor Sisolak. “As Governor, I’m proud that Nevada is fighting back to defend our DREAMers against any attempts to undermine their protected status.”

        More than 12,000 of DACA recipients, better known as DREAMers, call Nevada home. Thanks to the DACA program, DACA recipients are able to go to work or school and live without fear of deportation while pursuing their dreams. Dreamers are students and teachers, military service members, law enforcement officers, fire fighters, health care workers, and child and elder care workers. The states argue that allowing these individuals to participate in American society generates significant positive impacts for these states and the country as a whole.

          In addition to the social benefits provided by the DACA program, Dreamers provide positive economic benefits to Nevada. DACA provides recipients with the ability to apply for work authorizations, which allow them to work legally in the U.S. DACA recipients in Nevada exercised an estimated $261.8 million in spending power in 2015, and paid an estimated $19.9 million in state and local taxes.

            AG Ford is joined by the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Montana Governor Steve Bullock in this action.

              The brief is attached.

              ###