Federal judge says DACA program is illegal, blocks new applications

A federal judge in Texas ruled in favor of blocking new applications to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on Friday, stating that former President Barack Obama did not have the legal authority to offer protections to undocumented children brought to the U.S. from being deported.

The ruling by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Judge Andrew Hanen, orders the Biden administration to stop approving applications immediately. But Hanen noted that current recipients will not be immediately impacted.

“To be clear, the order does not require [the Department of Homeland Security] or the Department of Justice to take any immigration, deportation or criminal action against any DACA recipient, applicant, or any other individual that it would not otherwise take,” he wrote in the ruling.

The DACA program was first implemented in 2012, with more than 616,000 people currently enrolled, according to CBS News. President Joe Biden has asserted he would like to see a path to citizenship for Dreamers, which is not currently an option for those partaking in the program.

Hanen, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, said he believes DACA violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which dictates how agencies develop and implement regulations.

He ruled in favor of Texas and eight other Republican-run states who had sued to halt the program, arguing that Obama didn’t have the authority to create DACA because it bypassed Congress.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which defended the program on behalf of some DACA recipients, vowed to appeal the decision.

“Today’s decision then once more emphasizes how critically important it is that the Congress step up to reflect the will of a supermajority of citizens and voters in this country,” Thomas Saenz, president of MALDEF, said Friday. “That will is to see DACA recipients and other young immigrants similarly situated receive legislative action that will grant them a pathway to permanence and citizenship in our country.”

The Supreme Court last year rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to end the Obama-era program.

Progressive organizations and some Democratic lawmakers blasted Hanen’s ruling, with New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand calling it “terrible.”

“This is a terrible decision that leaves too many Dreamers and their families without the protection they deserve,” Gillibrand said on Twitter. “Enough is enough — it’s time to pass a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and undocumented immigrants now.”

The American Civil Liberties Union implored Congress to give Dreamers an opportunity to become citizens.

“Dreamers’ futures shouldn’t be in the hands of the courts,” the ACLU said in a statement. “Congress must act now through the budget reconciliation process to provide Dreamers and other undocumented members of our communities with reliable status and a pathway to citizenship.”

Cheska Mae Perez, an undocumented woman who lives in Washington D.C, was heartbroken by the ruling.

“My lil brother & sister sent first-time apps for DACA at the same time in Dec 2020,” she tweeted. “My brother was 1 of 1,900 apps luckily approved, but my sister is 1 of 60,000 still in backlog impacted by Hanen’s decision today. This “limbo needs to end,” Mae Perez added. “We need a pathway to citizenship NOW!”