Today, the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in the challenge to President Obama’s expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the new Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Legal Permanent Residents (DAPA) programs. At issue is whether President Obama’s actions exceeded his presidential powers and would impose burdens on states. Among other reforms, the executive order would have given thousands of immigrants work permits and temporary relief from deportation. As the Executive Director of National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), I issued the following statement in support of the DACA and DAPA programs:

“As the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the fate of immigrants, the nearly 500,000 AAPI people eligible for relief under the expanded DACA and new DAPA programs continue to languish. Because of our broken immigration policies, more than 1.3 million undocumented Asian immigrants are at risk of deportation. They live in fear of being needlessly separated from their children and families. All children, citizens or not, deserve the security that comes from knowing that they will not be uprooted from their homes, deported and possibly taken from their parents.

“Every day that we wait for a decision from the justices brings untold suffering by tearing families apart — depriving children of their parents. We applaud the president and his administration for taking a strong stand in support of immigrants. We call on the high court to deliver a swift and just decision to affirm the executive actions.

“We demand that Congress move forward with immigration reform so that the many Asian American and Pacific Islander women — including workers, community leaders and survivors of gender-based violence — can continue to contribute to our economy and live free from the fear of family separation.”

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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF): NAPAWF is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build a movement to advance social justice and human rights for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls.