UN rights experts urge US to protect ‘Dreamers’ before program expires News
UN rights experts urge US to protect ‘Dreamers’ before program expires

In anticipation of the expiration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a panel of UN rights experts on Tuesday urged [text] urged the US to protect the lawful status of approximately 800,000 people.

DACA recipients, or “dreamers,” are not eligible for citizenship, which has led to complications since the program was rescinded [JURIST report] in September.

The UN experts said that allowing the program to end will send the wrong message, which will lead to recipients being stereotyped and stigmatized. Additionally, they stated that dreamers will face worse hardships if forced back to the countries where their parents had brought them from.

The experts said, “The majority of these migrants are young women. They are at risk of being expelled to countries where there are high levels of violence, lawlessness and crime and where women in particular face very specific and dire risks.”

Several lawsuits have successfully blocked DACA’s rescission, and the decision was appealed [JURIST reports]. Now, the Supreme Court has granted expedited consideration [JURIST report] of the case.