2020-04-21

In the next few weeks the Supreme Court will rule on whether the Trump administration can roll back a program meant to protect more than 700,000 Dreamers from deportation and allow them to work. While the case is awaiting decision, yesterday the Court allowed lawyers for some of the Dreamers to submit an additional brief, making the point that the COVID-19 pandemic should figure in this case. The reason: more than 27,000 of the Dreamers in question work in the healthcare industries. If the Court was to decide the Trump administration can shut down this program during our current health crisis, American society would lose thousands of doctors, nurses, and emergency medical technicians, among others, resulting in much higher death rates. Yesterday, President Trump tweeted: “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!” The Supreme Court’s deliberations and the President’s words signal sharp lines between lives that are valued and lives considered expendable, a pitting of “American Citizens” against an “Invisible Enemy,” our ugly history repeating itself over and over again. Thankfully, there is still art and music and collaborations and the educating of children. And there is The Beat. #TogetherKY #TeamKentucky