A federal judge in Texas on Friday ordered an end to an Obama-era program that prevented the deportations of some immigrants brought into the United States as children, putting new pressure for action on President Biden and Democrats who now control Congress.
U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen ruled in favor of Texas and eight other conservative states that had sued to halt the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, which provides limited protections to about 650,000 people. People who are already enrolled won’t lose protections, but Hanen is barring the processing of new applications.
Hanen’s decision limits the immediate ability of Biden, who pledged during his campaign to protect DACA, to keep the program or something similar in place. His ruling is the second by a federal judge in Texas stopping Biden’s immigration plans, after a court barred enforcement of Biden’s 100-day stay on most deportations. The program has been challenged in court since former President Obama instituted it in June 2012.
In Friday’s ruling, Hanen wrote that the states proved “the hardship that the continued operation of DACA has inflicted on them.”
Advertisement
He continued: “Furthermore, the government has no legitimate interest in the continuation of an illegally implemented program.”
Biden has proposed legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without authorization. He also ordered agencies to make efforts to preserve DACA.
Politics
ICE may finally get a Senate-confirmed director after over four years without one
Senators grilled Texas Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, President Biden’s nominee to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at his confirmation hearing.
Supporters of the program, including those who argued before Hanen to save it, have said a law passed by Congress is necessary to provide permanent relief. Hanen has said Congress must act if the U.S. wants to provide the protections in DACA to recipients commonly known as Dreamers.
The House approved legislation in March creating a pathway toward citizenship for Dreamers, but the measure has been stalled in the Senate. Immigration advocates hope to include a provision opening that citizenship doorway in sweeping budget legislation Democrats want to approve this year, but it’s unclear whether that language will survive.
Hanen’s ruling came after he held a nearly 3？-hour court hearing Dec. 22 on DACA’s fate.
The states argued that Obama never had the authority in 2012 to create a program such as DACA because it circumvented Congress. The states also argued the program drains their educational and healthcare resources.
Suing alongside Texas were Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia — states that all had Republican governors or state attorneys general.
Advertisement
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the New Jersey attorney general’s office, which defended the program on behalf of a group of DACA recipients, argued that Obama had the authority to institute DACA and that the states lacked the standing to sue because they had not suffered any harm due to the program.
Politics
News Analysis: U.S. expands fight against Central American corruption. Will it stem immigration?
The Biden administration is expanding its offensive against corruption and other causes of immigration from Central America.
Hanen had rejected Texas’ request in 2018 to stop the program through a preliminary injunction. But in a foreshadowing of his latest ruling, Hanen said in 2018 that he believed DACA as enacted was likely unconstitutional.
“If the nation truly wants to have a DACA program, it is up to Congress to say so,” Hanen wrote then.
Advertisement
Hanen ruled in 2015 that Obama could not expand DACA protections or institute a program shielding their parents.
Many recipients have lived in the U.S. for a decade or longer after being brought into the country without permission or overstaying visas. The liberal Center for American Progress says roughly 254,000 children have at least one parent relying on DACA. Some recipients are grandparents.
The U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled that former President Trump’s attempt to end DACA in 2017 was unlawful. A New York judge in December ordered the Trump administration to restore the program as enacted by Obama.
Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, a progressive organization, expressed disappointment at Friday’s ruling, saying in a statement that DACA has been a big success that has transformed many lives.
“Today makes absolutely clear: only a permanent legislative solution passed by Congress will eliminate the fear and uncertainty that DACA recipients have been forced to live with for years,” Schulte said. “We call on each and every elected office to do everything within their power so that DACA recipients and their families and communities can live free from fear, and continue to build their lives here.”