March 27, 2020
The Honorable Scott S. Harris
Clerk of the Court
Supreme Court of the United States
One First Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20543
Re: Wolf, et al., v. Batalla Vidal, et al., No. 18-589
Dear Mr. Harris:
We write to advise the Court of the bearing on this matter of the COVID-19 pandemic and
the current national state of emergency. Batalla Vidal-Respondents argue that the decision to terminate DACA must be vacated because, among other reasons, the agency did not adequately assess
the relevant reliance interests when it terminated the program. The public health crisis now confronting our nation illuminates the depth of those interests as borne by employers, civil society,
state and local governments, and communities across the country, and especially by healthcare
providers. Furthermore, it throws into sharp relief DACA recipients’ important contributions to
the country and the significant adverse consequences of eliminating their ability to live and work
without fear of imminent deportation. These are the very consequences the agency failed to consider.
Healthcare providers on the frontlines of our nation’s fight against COVID-19 rely significantly upon DACA recipients to perform essential work. Approximately 27,000 DACA recipients
are healthcare workers—including nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physician assistants, home health
aides, technicians, and other staff—and nearly 200 are medical students, residents, and physicians.
Brief for Ass’n of Am. Medical Colleges as Amicus Curiae Supporting Respondents at 2-3. The
pandemic sheds new light on the reliance interests of healthcare providers and the public health
consequences of ignoring those interests, presciently identified by the Association of American
Medical Colleges and 32 allied organizations in their amicus brief:
The country [is not] prepared to fill the loss that would result if DACA recipients were excluded from the health care workforce. The number of physicians in the United States has not kept pace with our growing and aging
population and a commensurate increase in patients. . . . These shortages
will be felt most keenly in medically underserved areas, such as rural settings and poor neighborhoods—precisely the areas in which DACA recipients are likeliest to work.
The risk of a pandemic also continues to grow, since infectious diseases can
spread around the globe in a matter of days due to increased urbanization
and international travel . . . . To ensure health security, the country needs a
robust health workforce. Rescinding DACA, however, would deprive the

 public of domestically educated, well-trained, and otherwise qualified
health care professionals . . . .
Id. at 4-5; see also id. at 16-24.
The record contains additional evidence of DACA recipients’ involvement in providing
healthcare. For example, plaintiff-respondent Jirayut (“New”) Latthivongskorn is a resident physician at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, having graduated
from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. J.A. at 916-931. Other
DACA-recipient healthcare providers include Dr. Dalia Larios, a physician at Brigham and
Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Brief for Nineteen Coll. and Univ. as
Amicus Curiae Supporting Respondents at 17; Dr. T.W., a surgeon, Brief for SEIU, AFL-CIO,
and AFSCME as Amicus Curiae Supporting Respondents at 7-9; Jesus Contreras, a Houston-area
paramedic, Brief for 109 Cities, Counties, et al. as Amicus Curiae Supporting Respondents at 10;
Yazmin I., a medical intern in St. Louis, Brief for United We Dream as Amicus Curiae Supporting
Respondents at 15; Luis A., an intensive care nurse in Arkansas, id. at 26; Daniel C., a registered
nurse in New Jersey, id. at 27; M.R., a homecare worker for the elderly in California, SEIU, AFLCIO, and AFSCME Am. Br. at 4-5; I.T., a surgical technician in El Paso, id. at 15-17; and plaintiffrespondent Martín Jonathan Batalla Vidal, a physical therapist. J.A. at 909. DACA recipients are
essential to protecting communities across the country endangered by COVID-19.1 Termination
of DACA during this national emergency would be catastrophic.2
We would appreciate your circulating this letter to Members of the Court. Furthermore, if
the Court deems it appropriate, Batalla Vidal-Respondents would welcome the opportunity for
supplemental briefing on the scope and relevance of third parties’ reliance interests, including to
address whether remand to the agency for reconsideration of its decision to terminate DACA is
appropriate in light of the extraordinary public health emergency.

1

This letter addresses the effect upon relevant reliance interests of the possible elimination of DACA recipients’
ability to work. But Petitioners recently have made clear that they plan to begin deporting DACA recipients if the
termination of the program is upheld by this Court. On January 23, the Acting ICE Director stated, in reference to
DACA recipients with final orders of removal, “If they get ordered removed, and DACA is done away with by the
Supreme Court, we can actually effectuate those removal orders.” Matthew Albence, Acting Dir., Immigr. & Customs
Enforcement, Public Safety Media Briefing (Jan. 23, 2020). The Acting Secretary of DHS made similar statements
while testifying before the Senate on March 4. Resources and Authorities Needed to Protect and Secure the Homeland:
Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. and Governmental Affairs, 116th Cong. (2020) (statement of Chad
F. Wolf, Sec’y, Dep't of Homeland Sec.) (“So when we get final orders of removal, we’re going to effectuate those.”).
2

The COVID-19 pandemic also highlights DACA recipients’ impact on the economy and the importance of their
participation in public health measures. Millions of family members, including U.S. citizens, rely upon DACA recipients for their economic and physical well-being. Furthermore, the forbearance from immigration enforcement that
DACA affords promotes compliance by DACA recipients with stay-at-home orders and facilitates safe testing and
treatment for COVID-19. These steps are essential to the public health measures now being taken to slow transmission
of the virus and prevent the nation’s healthcare system from being overwhelmed.

2

 Respectfully submitted,

Michael J. Wishnie
Counsel of Record for
Batalla Vidal-Respondents
Muneer I. Ahmad
Marisol Orihuela
JEROME N. FRANK LEGAL
SERVICES ORGANIZATION
Trudy S. Rebert
Araceli Martínez-Olguín
Mayra B. Joachin
NATIONAL IMMIGRATION
LAW CENTER
Karen C. Tumlin
Cooperating Attorney
JEROME N. FRANK LEGAL
SERVICES ORGANIZATION
Amy S. Taylor
Paige Austin
MAKE THE ROAD
NEW YORK
cc: See attached service list

3

 SERVICE LIST: Wolf, et al., v. Batalla Vidal, et al., No. 18-589

Noel J. Francisco
Solicitor General
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Room 5616
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
SupremeCtBriefs@USDOJ.gov
Lindsay C. Harrison
Jenner & Block, LLP
1099 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 900
Washington, DC 20001
LHarrison@jenner.com
Stacey Monica Leyton
Altshuler Berzon, LLP
177 Post Street
Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94108
sleyton@altshulerberzon.com
Robert A. Long Jr.
Covington & Burling, LLP
One CityCenter
850 Tenth Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
rlong@cov.com
Michael James Mongan
State of CA, Department of Justice
455 Golden Gate Ave.
Suite 11000
San Francisco, CA 94102
michael.mongan@doj.ca.gov

Theodore B. Olson
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
tolson@gibsondunn.com
Barbara Dale Underwood
Solicitor General
Office of the Attorney General
28 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10005-1400
Barbara.underwood@ag.ny.gov
Joseph M. Sellers
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
1100 New York Ave., NW Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20005
jsellers@cohenmilstein.com