Shouts for justice and equality could be heard Saturday afternoon in front of San Jose City Hall, where about 15 protesters gathered to rally for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protection policy. 

“We’re here today as part of a national call to action in defense of DACA,” said Mike Paradela, one of the organizers with Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

FRSO is a national organization of “revolutionaries” fighting for socialism, according to its website.

The protest came days after President Joe Biden moved to show support for DACA through the Department of Homeland Security with a 453 page federal regulation that will take effect on Oct. 31, according to an Aug. 24 CBS News article.

The rule will codify the Obama-era program, which was governed by a 2012 memo, into the federal government’s regulations code, according to the CBS News article. 

DACA has permitted hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children to live and work legally without fear of deportation, since its inception a decade ago, according to the same article. 

The Aug. 24 ruling is designed to address some of the Republican-led challenges against DACA, specifically the July 2021 decision by a Texas federal judge that closed new DACA applications, according to the CBS News article. 

The Texas order, which came from the federal court case Texas v. United States, permits the U.S. government to process first-time DACA requests, but it can’t grant or deny the applications, according to a June 29 National Immgration Law Center article. 

“Considering all the attacks the Supreme Court has made on, like policies, like Roe versus Wade and other things, there is a very real chance that DACA could be also cut as well,” Paradela said. “That could mean up to 800,000 undocumented immigrants could be deported and that is just blatantly gross and disgusting.” 

As of March 31, 611,270 immigrants were enrolled in DACA, according to the U.S. DACA data. 

Jennifer Lin, the main organizer for the event and FRSO member, said Biden’s rule isn’t enough from an administration that has done nothing in its time in office. 

“I think, effectively, I don’t know that it changes much at all, politically speaking,” she said before the protest began.

With the Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, many protesters, including Paradela and Lin, expressed that Biden should do more to protect at-risk groups from a majority conservative court.

“For me, I see it more as like he’s just kind of trying to put a bandaid on it rather than trying to address the root problems of the immigration system,” Paradela said. 

On San Jose State’s campus, a similar sentiment was shared from an UndocuSpartan Student Resource Center student assistant, who wished to remain anonymous for safety concerns. 

“It’s been an overwhelming time for ourselves and the undocumented community and not just for the SJSU community,” the student assistant said in a phone call. “This rule and DACA in general, I feel, there’s constantly changes [being] made to it and that affects people’s lives. It’s something that is affecting people’s livelihood and whether they can be here.” 

The UndocuSpartan Student Resource Center stated in an email that there are many SJSU students, faculty and staff who are DACA beneficiaries and need permanent protections.

“The last 10 years have shown us the positive impact DACA has had in the lives of hundreds of thousands of undocumented youth, their families and communities, but DACA does not replace Congressional action,” the center stated. “What our students and staff need are a pathway toward permanent residency, especially a pathway that is more inclusive than DACA.” 

The UndocuSpartan Student Resource Center stated U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) is still accepting and processing renewals and SJSU students and employees can access free immmigration legal services through the California State University Legal Services Center by scheduling an appointment through the UndocuSpartan Student Resource Center website.

“We need something more solid and now,” said the anonymous student assistant from the UndocuSpartan Student Resource Center. “It’s hard when these laws and initiatives are up in the air, things can change so quickly and that can be discouraging.”