Six immigrants who are benefiting from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are suing President Donald Trump over his decision to phase out the program. Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn, a master’s candidate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a medical student at the University of California-San Francisco, is one of the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit, filed September 18, 2017 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, argues that the Trump Administration didn’t follow proper administrative procedure in rescinding DACA, and that breaking the promise offered by DACA violates the due process of those known as “Dreamers”—young people who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children.
DACA shields nearly 800,000 young immigrants from deportation and provides them with renewable two-year work permits.
Along with Lattivongskorn, who was brought to the U.S. from Thailand at age 9, the plaintiffs include two middle school teachers who work with at-risk youth, a formerly homeless attorney, a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology, and a law student.
“I have all these big ideas about how I want to change the world and change systems around health care,” said Lattivongskorn, a master’s candidate at Harvard Chan School, in a September 18, 2017 Reuters article. “The fact that I might not be able to get there is troubling and frustrating.”
Read statement on the DACA suit from Harvard Chan Dean Michelle A. Williams
Read the Reuters article: Six Dreamers sue Trump administration over DACA decision
Read a Harvard Crimson article: Public Health School Student Sues Trump Over DACA
– photo courtesy Jirayut Latthivongskorn