‘Nobody is above the law’: Local civil rights organization files lawsuit against Trump for not allowing DACA applications

HOUSTON – Immigrant-led civil rights organization, FIEL, has filed a lawsuit filed against President Donald Trump’s administration that claims the administration isn’t allowing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applicants to apply to the program weeks after the Supreme Court upheld it.

Raed Gonzalez, the attorney handling the class action lawsuit, said he is asking the court to take action to allow DACA applications to be processed in a timely manner.

Gonzalez said there was a mandate that said the DACA program was unlawfully canceled. While it can be canceled, Gonzalez said it was not done correctly, so the program still stands.

However, recipients who have tried to apply, have been rejected and refunded, and according to the USCIS website, only DACA renewals are being accepted. That means the government is preventing new applicants from applying and not upholding the Supreme Court’s decisions, Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said the lawsuit is for all applicants, past, present or future.

“These young people cannot wait any more,” Gonzalez said. “They are part of the economy … The more noise we make, the sooner we will get this going.”

Cesar Espinosa, the executive director of FIEL, said they filed the lawsuit to fight for immigrant rights and to send a message that no one is above the law, not even the president.

“Nobody is above the law,” Espinosa said. “If the Supreme Court already gave a decision, (the Trump administration) needs to take applications immediately.”

Espinosa said FIEL will continue to fight for not only Dreamers but for their families who have fought to give their children a better life.

Espinosa and Gonzalez are encouraging anyone who wants to learn more about the FIEL, the lawsuit or to participate in the lawsuit, to reach out to FIEL Houston or to Raed Gonzalez’s law firm.

In a previous statement following the Supreme Court’s ruling, Trump said he would be unveiling a new immigration measure that would include DACA, according to NPR.

“We’re working out the legal complexities right now, but I’m going to be signing a very major immigration bill as an executive order, which the Supreme Court now, because of the DACA decision, has given me the power to do that,” Trump said.

Watch the full announcement and testimonials below: