Court Cases Immigrants’ Rights

MALDEF STATEMENT ON RULING BLOCKING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S THREAT TO WITHHOLD FEDERAL FUNDS FROM SANCTUARY COMMUNITIES

Los Angeles, CA- Please attribute this statement on U.S. District Judge William Orrick’s ruling that Donald Trump’s executive order threatening to pull funding from sanctuary communities is unconstitutional to Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund:

MEDIA ADVISORY

PHOENIX, AZ – Civil and immigrants’ rights groups will present oral argument before a federal court on January 20th, asking the judge to issue a preliminary injunction ordering Arizona to provide driver’s licenses to applicants who have received deferred action.

FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS TO HEAR ARGUMENTS ON TEXAS IMMIGRANT HARBORING LAW ON JANUARY 4, 2017

New Orleans, LA – MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) will present oral argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, asking the court to uphold a federal court’s preliminary injunction blocking Texas from enforcing a provision in HB 11 that makes it a crime to harbor or conceal someone who is in the U.S. without legal documents.

MALDEF LAUNCHES FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND TOOLKIT TO ASSIST UNDOCUMENTED YOUTH APPLYING FOR DACA

LOS ANGELES, CA – MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) today released a first-of-its-kind toolkit designed to help undocumented youth obtain the critical records needed to apply for temporary relief from deportation under President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. “DACA has already benefitted hundreds of thousands of young immigrants,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel. “This toolkit should assist countless others who are eligible but have not applied, perhaps because of the difficulty in obtaining the necessary evidence and documentary proof of eligibility for discretionary DACA relief.” Under DACA, undocumented youths who were born after 1981, came to the United States before age 16, and remained in the country since 2007, are eligible to receive relief from potential removal, work authorization, and a Social Security card.

MALDEF STATEMENT ON SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO DENY REHEARING OF DAPA/DACA CASE

LOS ANGELES, CA – The United States Supreme Court today denied a petition to rehear United States v. Texas, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the initiation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA).