Federal Judge Halts DACA and Says It Was Created Illegally under Obama

July 19, 2021 in News by RBN Staff

 

Source: Need To Know

US District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled on Friday in favor of a lawsuit launched by a group of state governments, saying that the DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, program was initially created illegally because it was done without congressional approval. The ruling halts expansion of the program from this point forward but leaves it intact for approximately 650, 000 immigrants already in it. An appeal is expected. The DACA program allowed those who entered the US illegally as a child or young adult under 25 years old to have a legal path to residency and citizenship, including work authorization and immunity from deportation. –GEG

Immigrants and advocates are urging Democrats and President Joe Biden to quickly act on legislation to protect young immigrants after a federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled illegal an Obama-era program that prevents the deportation of thousands of them brought into the U.S. as children.

Plaintiffs have vowed to appeal the decision by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who declared the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program illegal, barring the government from approving any new applications, but leaving the program intact for existing recipients.

Calling the ruling a “blaring siren” for Democrats, United We Dream Executive Director Greisa Martinez Rosas said they would be solely to blame if legislative reform doesn’t happen.

“Until the president and Democrats in Congress deliver on citizenship, the lives of millions will remain on the line,” Martinez Rosas said.

Hanen ruled in favor of Texas and eight other conservative states that sued to halt DACA, which provides limited protections to about 650,000 people.

The program has faced a roller coaster of court challenges since former President Barack Obama instituted it in June 2012. The Trump administration announced it was ending the program in September 2017, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that the administration hadn’t ended the program properly, keeping it alive once more.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a statement Friday evening, vowed that Democrats will continue to push for passage of the DREAM Act, and called on Republicans “to join us in respecting the will of the American people and the law, to ensure that Dreamers have a permanent path to citizenship.”

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