AUSTIN, Texas — Hundreds protected by DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and their supporters marched through Austin's streets Tuesday asking local leaders to preserve DACA.
It allows immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children without permanent legal status to register with the government and stay here.
The U.S Supreme Court began hearing arguments Tuesday, in a case that could lead to the deportation of nearly 700,000 young immigrants. The justices will consider if the way the Trump administration tried to end the DACA program is legal.
"I've lived more than half of my life here. If I go back to Mexico, I don't know what is to be over there. So, yeah, this is my home and I'm here to stay," said Uriel Rosales, a DACA recipient from New Mexico who traveled to Austin for the rally.
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Rosales said his future is on the line and he wishes our nation's leaders recognize how many people this would affect.
PHOTOS: Rally at attorney general's office in support of DACA
"Personally, I don't know what's going to happen to me if it's terminated," said Rosales.
In August, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court calling to terminate DACA.
In Tuesday's hearing in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority appeared to side with President Donald Trump about getting rid of DACA.
"I'm empowered because, as you can see back there, there are students, there are parents, there are mothers, there are teachers, and the community is rallying here today to fight for their rights," said Maribel Rosas, a DACA recipient.
She moved to Austin from Mexico when she was 14 and said, without DACA, her kids won't have the same life.
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"We're here and we will continue to fight for our rights. It doesn't matter what the court says. It doesn't matter what the governor says or Ken Paxton says, we're going to continue to fight for our rights," said Rosas.
The Supreme Court's ruling on DACA may not come until Spring 2020.
AG Paxton gave this statement on today’s Supreme Court argument on the DACA program:
“This case is about the rule of law. Congress has the sole authority to write immigration laws, and it has repeatedly rejected attempts to enact the policies embodied in DACA and DAPA; however, in a lawless exercise of executive power, the Obama administration attempted to bypass our elected representatives and put those policies in place by executive action. The president’s duty is to ensure that the law is faithfully executed, not to re-write laws with which he disagrees. We hope the Supreme Court will recognize the necessity of the Trump administration’s decision to rescind this unlawful program."
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