LOS ANGELES, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of local officials, immigrants and students from colleges and high schools rallied in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court's hearing over the Trump Administration's efforts to end the program.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, a former Obama cabinet member, held a news conference Tuesday morning to showcase support for DACA, which was signed by Obama and provided deportation protection for immigrants who were brought into the country illegally by their parents.
"The County of Los Angeles opposes this administration's misguided attempt to dismantle DACA. We will not stop fighting. I join in solidarity with educators, employers, medical professionals, students and community leaders in expressing our support of DACA," said Solis, who was joined by immigrant-rights activists, students and county officials in charge of immigration and education.
"The @CountyofLA stands in solidarity with the thousands of DREAMers who call LACounty home," she tweeted after the press conference, adding that "#DACA recipients are crucial members of our communities, and this is the only home they know. Now is the time to #RenewYourDACA! #HereIsHome"
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was among the attorneys arguing on behalf of DACA before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday. Becerra pledged to fight for the rights of DACA beneficiaries, or the so-called "Dreamers," many times before.
"We stand here very proud of the arguments that were made on behalf of the more than 700,000 DACA recipients and substantially many more dreamers and so many, many more immigrants who are waiting to come out of the shadows," Becerra said in Washington Tuesday.
"Dreamers with #DACA did everything right. The President tried to end DACA in the wrong way. We're here to say that we understand that this nation is built on the rule of law and we're here to stand up for the right way! #HomeIsHere" he tweeted.
The Trump administration announced plans in September 2017 to end the program, arguing that Obama exceeded his constitutional powers by bypassing Congress when he created DACA through an executive action.
The Supreme Court case on Tuesday centered on the legality of Trump's 2017 plan to rescind DACA, a decision expected by June 2020. Tuesday's hearing was not about whether DACA itself is legal, but the steps taken by the administration to end it.
The Supreme Court case stems from lower court rulings in New York, California and the District of Columbia that Trump violated a U.S. law in seeking to rescind DACA and blocked the president's move.
