A US federal judge ruled Friday that the current version of a program that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the country as children can remain in place, at least temporarily.
District Judge Andrew Hanen — who ruled last year that the so-called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is illegal — said the rule can continue with the limitations he previously set.
Under these limitations, there can be no new applicants for DACA protection, while current recipients can remain in the program and apply for their renewals.
Hanen ordered attorneys to give him more information and said he awaits additional legal arguments related to the new rule, but no dates have been set for future hearings. It was also unclear when he will deliver his final sentence, which is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court.
The current version of DACA, created by the administration led by Joe Biden to improve its chances of surviving a legal inquiry, will go into effect on October 31.
Last week, the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said it should re-examine DACA following revisions adopted by the Joe Biden administration in August, designed to improve its chances of surviving legal scrutiny.
Hanen ruled last year that DACA is illegal in a lawsuit brought by Texas and eight other Republican-leaning states on the grounds that it harms them financially by costing hundreds of millions of dollars in health, education and other expenses. They also argued that the White House exceeded its limits by granting benefits to immigrants that correspond to Congress.
The judge left intact the program approved during the presidency of Barack Obama for those who had already benefited. There were 611,270 people enrolled in DACA last March.
A three-judge panel of appeals court in New Orleans upheld Hanen’s initial ruling, but sent the case back to him to review the impact of the new rules.
The new 453-page rule is largely technical and contains few changes from the 2012 memorandum that created DACA, but it was submitted to public discussion as part of a formal process to create legislation, but the judge could uphold the illegality of the program because it has not been approved by Congress, said Nina Perales, of the Mexican-American Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF).
“That is why there are many who are asking Congress to act,” he added.
Following last week’s appeals court ruling, President Biden and advocacy groups renewed their calls for Congress to pass permanent protections for so-called “Dreamers,” as people protected by DACA are commonly called. Congress has failed multiple times to pass proposals called the DREAM Act to protect DACA recipients.
Whatever Hanen decides, DACA is expected to make its way to the Supreme Court for a third time. In 2016, the Supreme Court reached a 4-4 deadlock over expanded DACA and a version of the program for parents of DACA recipients. In 2020, the highest court ruled 5-4 that the Trump administration improperly ended DACA, allowing it to remain in effect.
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