El Magonista Newsletter | Vol. 10, No. 37 | October 11, 2022

(CNN) — A federal appeals court largely upheld a district court ruling finding that the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is unlawful but sent the case back to the lower court to decide the legality of a new rule fortifying the program.

DACA, created in 2012, was intended to provide temporary reprieve to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, a group often described as “Dreamers.” Many of them are now adults.

There are more than 611,000 immigrants enrolled in the program, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Wednesday’s ruling will not affect those currently in the program, but it will continue to block new applications.

Judge Andrew Hanen, of the Southern District of Texas, ruled in July 2021 that DACA was unlawful and blocked the government from approving new applications for the program. Hanen’s order, however, allowed the program to continue for current enrollees while the case is litigated.

The appeals court preserved the stay in its ruling Wednesday... READ MORE

Republicans have sought to put Democrats on the defensive about the issue ahead of November by pointing to record numbers of illegal border crossings.

As they plot a post-midterms legislative agenda for President Joe Biden, White House officials have been considering whether changes to the country’s immigration system should be one of his major policy pushes, according to White House officials and other people familiar with the discussions.  

The talks are happening within a small group of Biden aides, and the president hasn’t yet made any decisions, the sources said. The policy details of any immigration push, as well as its scale and scope, would depend on the makeup of Congress and the political climate, the people familiar with the discussions said. 

Such a push reflects an acknowledgment among Biden’s advisers that as he prepares for a re-election campaign based on the slogan “Promises Kept,” immigration remains a 2020 campaign pledge that remains largely unfulfilled.

Republicans, meanwhile, have sought to wield the issue against Democrats ahead of November’s elections by pointing to record numbers of illegal border crossings, throwing Biden and his fellow Democrats on the defensive even as they counter that they’re the ones striving for a bipartisan solution. 

“The challenge is that Republicans have a stranglehold on making any progress,” said Cecilia Munoz, who was the director of the Domestic Policy Council in Barack Obama’s White House... READ MORE

Almost ten years since the lamented passing of Marco Antonio Firebaugh at the age of 39, he is being timely remembered by participants of the California-Mexico Dreamers Study Abroad Program for his landmark Assembly Bill 540 legislation, and numerous accomplishments during his trailblazing career.

While Marco Antonio Firebaugh’s legacy reflects a wide range of undertakings, foremost was his dedication to serving the most vulnerable and the underrepresented, and above all, he stood up for immigrants and working families.

Marco was born on October 13, 1966 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, migrated to the U.S. as a young boy and never forgot his humble beginnings. After being diagnosed with liver disease in 2003, he died on March 21, 2006 from severe complications. He was survived by his two children, Tlalli Ariana and Nicolas Andres Firebaugh.

Though he died at a young age, his legacy lives on today in particular through his AB-540 bill, signed into law on Oct 12, 2001 by Governor Gray Davis, allowing undocumented students in California to pay in-state tuition, at public colleges and universities rather than the out-of-state rate for non-residents. A historic breakthrough precedent in U.S. higher education, now replicated by several states that benefit the growing student population now often referred to as Dreamers... READ MORE

By Stuart Anderson | Forbes | OCT. 3, 2022 | Photo Courtest of Getty Images

By Maria Ortiz | La Opinion | OCT. 05, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Getty Images

La Corte federal del Quinto Circuito de Texas dio a conocer su decisión sobre el programa de Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia

La corte de apelaciones del Quinto Circuito decidió el miércoles mantener el programa migratorio Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA), cuyo beneficiarios se conocen como “dreamers” y “soñadores”, aunque optó por devolver el caso a un tribunal de menor instancia.

El caso involucra la legalidad del programa de Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA) y se presentó en julio ante el Quinto Circuito, que escuchó las apelaciones de la administración Biden, varios estados liberales y varios beneficiarios individuales de DACA que cuestionan un fallo del juez del Tribunal de Distrito, Andrew Hanen, de que el programa es ilegal.

El fallo de Hanen en julio pasado ordenó al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) detener las aprobaciones de nuevos solicitantes de DACA, pero permitió que DHS continuara procesando las renovaciones de DACA mientras el caso continuaba en el sistema judicial.

La resolución dada a conocer el miércoles por el tribunal de apelaciones del Quinto Circuito afecta a más del medio millón de inmigrantes que llegaron al país cuando eran menores de edad y a los que el programa de inmigración, puesto en marcha por el expresidente Barack Obama... READ MORE

"Latinos can be Catholic or Evangelical or Muslim; male, female, or some other gender; impoverished, middle income, wealthy; and, yes, monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual", Director of the Census Bureau, Robert Santos, says to celebrate the Hispanic Heritage Month

My journey commenced before I was born, with my abuelos. Like many families in their generation, my grandparents fled Northern Mexico to avoid the violence of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. They came to San Antonio by simply crossing the Texas‐Mexico border sin papeles. They were refugees. Both of my parents were second-generation immigrants, born in San Antonio, which makes me a third-generation immigrant.

Research suggests what you may already suspect: the percentage of households speaking Spanish at home declines with successive generations. The 2015 Pew Research Survey of Latinos suggests that virtually all first-generation Latino households speak Spanish at home, while the numbers drop to about half by the third generation.

Similarly, American Community Survey data between 2009 and 2019 suggest that native-born Hispanics – myself included— increasingly speak only English at home now, climbing to about 42 percent in 2019. As for me, there was a bit of Spanish spoken in my second-generation home when I was growing up. But my third-generation family – my wife, kids and I – exclusively spoke English at home... READ MORE

A few days after Daniel got off a plane in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where he had been flown from San Antonio with other migrants by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his phone buzzed.

It was a WhatsApp message from a friend back home: I heard you can get a lot of help out there, the friend said. Is it true?

Daniel, who asked The Times to identify him by only his first name to protect his immigration case, said word is getting back to other Venezuelans that officials in the U.S. will provide them free rides from the border to major cities including Washington, Chicago and New York.

If those like his friend who are already considering the journey to the U.S. think they can get picked up near the border and taken where they want to go, Daniel said, “any person would be encouraged.”

DeSantis and his fellow Republican governors in Texas and Arizona have used millions of taxpayer dollars to transport thousands of migrants, often without warning, from the southern border to liberal cities to the north, sparking criticism of political maneuvering and human rights abuses. The governors say they are trying to make a point about the need for tighter border... READ MORE

By Eli Stokols | Los Angeles times | OCT. 6, 2022 | Photo by Jose Luis Magana

WASHINGTON — President Biden on Thursday pardoned all individuals convicted on federal charges of simple marijuana possession, a move that the White House estimated would affect more than 6,500 people nationwide.

Biden urged all governors to follow his example, and called for a formal review of marijuana’s classification in federal law as a Schedule I drug — the same classification as heroin and LSD, and a stricter classification than fentanyl.

A change to the legal classification of marijuana, although not certain, would be a significant reform, clearing the way for major changes to the federal government’s approach to the drug.

Reclassifying it would be “a big step in the right direction,” said Tianna Mays, a civil rights attorney in Washington. “It would take this down from being a felony, the same as possessing heroin. So we’re hopeful about the steps the Biden administration is taking.”

Biden’s actions, which many Democratic activists have been calling for, are the most significant steps he has taken toward reforming America’s drug laws. The moves appear to be timed to boost turnout in next month’s midterm election, which will decide whether the president’s party can hold on to control of Congress.

Black and Latino groups, whose communities are disproportionately affected by the enforcement of drug laws, have been especially outspoken in calling for marijuana decriminalization... READ MORE

By Suzanne Monyak | Roll Call | OCT. 6, 2022 | Photo by Kent Nishimura

But the ruling that kept the status quo for the immigration program may not boost incentives for a deal.

Advocates have turned up the pressure on the Senate to pass legislation this year to establish a citizenship path for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, after a federal appeals court dealt yet another blow to the program that for now protects those so-called Dreamers.

But with the status quo unchanged for current recipients of the program, the ruling may still not be enough to prompt at least 10 Republican senators to strike a deal with Democrats and pass a bill in the dwindling weeks of this legislative calendar.

The program, known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, for years has faced political and legal challenges that threatened to end it. But court rulings, including a decision Wednesday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, have continued to leave protections from deportation in place for Dreamers.

That has weakened incentives for Congress to act in the politically fraught area of immigration, where partisan divides have thwarted any substantive changes to law in decades. Advocates are currently eyeing the lame-duck period after midterm elections as their best chance to push through... READ MORE

Throughout her life in California, Kassandra Merlos has relied on her Mexican passport as her sole form of identification.

When she has rented apartments, she has been reluctant to mention that she’s in the country without legal status and only has her passport for identification. When she has gone out to bars with friends, she has felt discriminated against when told she needs a California license or an ID to get in.

For nearly a decade, immigrants who are in the country illegally have been able to get a restricted California driver’s license, but Merlos doesn’t drive. The 26-year-old applied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — better known as DACA — to get a work permit, but the program is no longer processing new applications.

Her mother and brother, who has epilepsy, also don’t have driver’s licenses. None of them have state-issued identification. 

That’s expected to change now that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law Assembly Bill 1766, also known as “California IDs for All.” Under the bill signed last week, California ID eligibility will be expanded for close to 2 million people who lack legal status.

The law will go into effect no later than July 1, 2027... READ MORE

The Golden State will send tax refunds to about 23 million Californians starting Friday to help them navigate the rising costs due to inflation.

California will spend $9.5 billion as part of the “Middle Class Tax Refund Estimator” program, with one-time payments ranging from $400 to $1,050 for couples who filed jointly on their 2020 state income tax return and $200 to $700 for those who filed independently.

Payments will arrive in several ways starting Friday, including direct deposits to roughly 8 million bank accounts for those who e-filed their 2020 state income tax return. The state expects the majority of all direct deposits to hit bank accounts by the end of October, and more will be sent out through Nov. 14. An additional 10 million payments will be mailed on debit cards to California residents. Those recipients can expect their payments to arrive from Oct. 25 to Jan. 15, according to the state Franchise Tax Board.

Eligible residents will need to have filed their 2020 tax return by Oct. 15, 2021, meet the state’s adjusted gross income limits and not have been claimed as a dependent in 2020. Individuals will also have to have lived in California for six months or more in 2020 and be a California resident when.... READ MORE