Undeterred by President Donald Trump's latest racist attack Tuesday morning on immigrants and their rights, hundreds of DACA recipients and allies gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court to support the plaintiffs in a case challenging a White House attempt to rescind protections protections for undocumented residents who arrived in the country as children.
Immigrant rights groups including United We Dream and Make the Road led demonstrators to the steps of the court shortly after Trump tweeted that recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are undeserving of protection from deportation because program participants are "far from angels" and are in fact "very tough, hardened criminals."
Under the program, the country's nearly 700,000 DACA recipients are able to obtain work permits, attend college, and receive protection from deportation. A clean criminal record is a prerequisite for qualifying for the program, as immigrant rights advocates pointed out in response to the president.
"It is patently false that DACA recipients are 'hardened criminals,'" tweeted ShareBlue reporter Emily Singer. "Trump is just a frothing-at-the-mouth racist."
"If we were such 'hardened criminals,' we would not get DACA in the first place," added Erika Andiola, advocacy chief for the immigrants' legal aid group RAICES and a DACA recipient herself.
However, Andiola added, "We are in fact very tough. I mean, we have to put up with you."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) offered her support to the hundreds who demonstrated outside the Supreme Court in the rain and also pushed backed against Trump's latest attack.
"This is false, divisive, fear-mongering to distract us from the cruelty of Trump's attempts to end DACA," Jayapal tweeted. "DACA recipients help make this country the best it can be. Their stories and passion for our nation, in the face of great hostility, exemplify the American Dream."
Hundreds of young undocumented immigrants marched from New York to Washington, D.C. ahead of the Supreme Court case. On Tuesday they marched through the nation's capital city to the court, chanting "No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!"
Using the viral hashtag #HomeIsHere, United We Dream posted a video featuring the plaintiffs who sued the Trump administration for moving to rescind DACA protections in 2017.
"Home is where we love and learn. It's where we stumble and grow, and it is where we stand up for what is right," the DACA recipients in the video said.
