Perchance to Dream: A Legal and Political History of the DREAM Act and DACA

FEATURING MICHAEL A. OLIVAS – The US Supreme Court in June 2020 voted against the Trump Administration’s cancelation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The 5-4 ruling had a typical liberal to conservative split with Chief Justice John Roberts casting the deciding vote in joining with the 4 liberal justices. The ruling impacts the fate of about 650,000 undocumented immigrants who obtained a deferment of deportation after meeting stringent criteria, and who have been able to work in the US legally.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her opinion that “an executive decision [to cancel DACA] disproportionately harms the same racial group that the President branded as less desirable mere months earlier.”

How the DACA program came about, what became of the original DREAM Act that it was based on, and what the grassroots movement for dignity was all about is told in a new history book about the so-called “Dreamers” movement.

Michael A. Olivas, the William B. Bates Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Houston and author of sixteen books including No Undocumented Child Left Behind, Suing Alma Mater, and more. His newest book is called Perchance to Dream: A Legal and Political History of the DREAM Act and DACA.