(New York, NY, Friday, June 19, 2020) – The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York WBASNY) applauds the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Department of Homeland Security, et al., v. Regents of the University of California, et al., which vacates the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  On Thursday, Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor in ruling that DHS did not give adequate or reasonable justification for terminating the program, and that its total rescission was arbitrary and capricious. However, this decision leaves open the question of whether the DACA program was constitutionally created, and it remands the cases to DHS, which may find a different way to terminate the program.

Since 2013, WBASNY has been an ardent supporter of New York’s DREAM Act, which helps undocumented students in the DACA program obtain financial assistance for college and graduate school through New York State-administered financial aid.  The DREAM Act was finally enacted, with WBASNY’s support, in April 2019. WBASNY continues to recognize the moral imperative to support undocumented students, who tend to come from economically disadvantaged homes, in obtaining the financial means to successfully pursue a degree in higher education and work to support themselves and their families.

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The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) is the professional membership organization of choice for more than 4,000 attorneys throughout New York State, and the largest statewide women’s bar association in the country.  For four decades, WBASNY has been a singularly important resource for women lawyers, with professional networking, continuing legal education programming, leadership training, and advocacy for the rights of women, children, and families.  Through involvement with WBASNY’s 20 regional chapters and its 40-plus substantive law committees, WBASNY’s members collaborate with one another on a variety of issues and perform public and community service, in furtherance of its mission to promote the advancement of the status of women in society and women in the legal profession; to promote the fair and equal administration of justice; and to act as a unified voice for its members with respect to issues of statewide, national and international significance to women generally and women attorneys in particular. WBASNY holds United Nations NGO status with the U.N.’s Department of Public Information, and Special Consultative status in association with the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). WBASNY is also a founding member of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.