Currently, immigration laws are becoming more stringent under the new administration of President Trump, nevertheless, immigrants are pushing back with the same or even greater of a force. The New York Times Article elaborates on Batalla Vidal and his lawsuit against the Texas judge’s injunction. Mr.Vidal is arguing that the US Citizenship and Immigration services illegally revoked his work permit by adhering to the 2015 ruling by federal Texas Judge that halted the expansion of Obama’s DACA. Obama, during his administration, created DACA which increase length of work permits for eligible children of undocumented immigrants from 2 to 3 years. He also created DAPA, which allowed as many as five million unauthorized immigrants who were the parents of citizens or of lawful permanent residents to obtain work permits and avoid deportation.  Initially,  Mr.Vidal had received his 3-year permit from the government a day after the Texas ruling, however, 3 months later immigration officials demanded the return of it stating he could only reside in the country for two more years. I agree with Mr.Vidal’s’ challenge that Work permits cannot be revoked without showing change in circumstances and giving notice.

Mr.Vidal is combining DAPA and DACA to challenge the Texas’s judges injunction and he states that, “Other states, like New York and California, we’re different. I just thought it wasn’t fair for myself and millions of other people that a judge somewhere else could affect our lives.” (Feuer) Mr.Vidal has made an interesting point about how New York and California are different than Texas but more importantly about when state law should apply nation-wide. Generally, federal law supersedes state law in terms of immigration. Thus, if there are certain federal laws imposing regulations on immigration they take precedence. As Attorney Susan Price states, “Many, but not all, state laws addressing immigration are preempted by federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government has broad and exclusive power to regulate immigration, preempting state and local laws that also attempt to do so.”(Price) According to Adam Kirschner however, since the Texas ruling has been upheld, immigration officials are applying it nation-wide. If Mr. Vidal wins this case, it could potentially have a huge impact on all the immigrants nation-wide could be eligible for the expanded DACA privileges and DAPA.

Consequently, there are some cons as well if this lawsuit prevails. Judge Hanen supported his ruling by stating that, “the administration’s programs would impose major burdens on states, unleashing illegal immigration, straining state budgets, and that the administration had not followed required procedures for changing federal rules.” (Shear and Preston) Texas Governor Greg Abbott states, “President Obama abdicated his responsibility to uphold the United States Constitution when he attempted to circumvent the laws passed by Congress via executive fiat and Judge Hanen’s decision rightly stops the president’s overreach in its tracks.”(Shear and Preston) Therefore, not only are DAPA and DACA burdensome on states, but some also think former President Obama unlawfully passed them. I believe that in terms of immigration, states should decide and the Texas’s judge’s ruling should not apply in New York. They’re two completely different states who have different viewpoints and there are also going to be two different consequences.  However I agree with Ali that Federal law should have final say in immigration matters as it is an issue that affects the nation as a whole..

DAPA and DACA have protected many families from being torn apart, but more importantly it has given people the chance to have an opportunity and given them freedom. These two policies have changed the hard lives of immigrants for the better. They’ve become a part of a community and now share a sense of belonging.  America was founded on immigrants, and we need them, especially certain parts of our economy. In addition, in our class discussion, it was brought up that race plays a major role in this as well as the media. And I completely agree that the media tends to filter out the undocumented immigrants who aren’t minorities. However, the issue of undocumented immigrants who enter illegally needs to be resolved in a serious and expeditious manner, regardless of what race they are. Nevertheless, it should also be dealt with in a manner that is also respectful to the families that have created a home and are now working hard to get legal status while simultaneously drawing the line to those who blatantly disregard the system and obtain benefits but refuse to give back.