County of Sonoma and Secure Families Collaborative to Continue Supporting Local DREAMers in Finding Alternative Immigration Relief Options

The County of Sonoma and the Secure Families Collaborative stand in support of the recent Supreme Court decision to block the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, DACA.

DACA is a policy instituted by President Obama in 2012 for young, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and completed high school or served in the military. Under the program, DACA recipients receive protection from deportation and permission to work. 

In DHS v. Regents of the University of California, a 5-4 majority opinion found that the administration’s termination of DACA was arbitrary and lacked an adequate justification  for its action.  

Although the decision provides some relief to the almost 800,000 DACA recipients across the nation, the Trump administration has made it clear that their attempts to terminate the program won't end with this decision.

“We are committed to continue advocating on behalf of more than 4,000 Sonoma County residents affected by the administration's attempts to terminate the program,” said Margaret Flores McCabe, Director of the Collaborative and Vital Immigrant Defense Advocacy and Services. “We will not stand by quietly and allow our friends and neighbors to be forced into the shadows.”

“Sonoma County stands with our non-profit partners to honor and protect the futures of critical members of our community,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Susan Gorin.  “Our dedication to the Secure Families Collaborative is unwavering.”

In collaboration with the County, attorneys and staff from the Secure Families Collaborative and the Dream Center at Santa Rosa Junior College will be holding a virtual informational session to review what the Supreme Court’s decision means and options that may be available to DACA recipients and other DREAMers in Sonoma County.

The Secure Families Collaborative, a network of non-profit organizations, was established to provide pro bono immigration and other legal assistance organizations to immigrant families in Sonoma County. Funded by the Sonoma County Secure Families Fund, the Collaborative includes Vital Immigrant Defense Advocacy and Services (VIDAS), the University of San Francisco Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic, and Catholic Charities. These partners form a powerful network of experienced, successful organizations to meet the Fund’s goals to increase local capacity to provide removal defense immigration legal services as well as to ensure better and closer cooperation between local immigration and other legal service providers.