Appeals court again declares DACA illegal, but keeps immigration policy alive
Washington — A federal appeals court on Friday declared the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy unlawful, casting a cloud of uncertainty over more than half a million unauthorized immigrants brought to the U.S. as children ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
A panel of judges before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that found that a Biden administration rule to codify DACA violated U.S. immigration law. The 2012 Obama administration memo that originally created the policy has also been found to be unlawful by federal courts.
Friday’s ruling, however, will not immediately change the status quo. By suspending its order, the panel of judges kept DACA alive for current recipients and closed to new applicants, as the program has been operating for the past few years.
For more than 12 years, DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants who crossed into the U.S. illegally or overstayed their visas as minors to live and work in the U.S., without fear of deportation. They are colloquially known as “Dreamers,” a moniker stemming from the Dream Act, a bipartisan effort to legalize them that Congress has considered, but failed to pass, for over two decades.
While it affirmed the lower court order that voided the Biden administration’s DACA regulation, the 5th Circuit panel narrowed the ruling’s impact, making it applicable only in Texas, the state spearheading the Republican-led lawsuit against the program. The panel paused its ruling as it relates to current DACA beneficiaries, pending another ruling by the 5th Circuit or the Supreme Court, allowing renewals to continue.
The panel also ruled that the deportation deferrals offered by DACA could be legally separated from the work permits that beneficiaries receive, giving the Biden administration a partial victory on its argument that the deportation protections should be left intact if the work authorization provision is struck down.
As of the end of September 2024, there were roughly 538,000 immigrants enrolled in DACA, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that oversees the initiative. To qualify for the policy, applicants had to establish they arrived in the U.S. by their 16th birthday and before June 2007; graduated from an American high school or enrolled in the military; and lacked any serious criminal records.
Friday’s ruling could pave the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to finally settle the years-long legal battle over DACA. But it’s unclear how the incoming Trump administration will handle the case and whether it will try to terminate the program. While President Biden’s Justice Department has vigorously defended DACA in court, the first Trump administration tried phasing out the policy, arguing it was unlawful. The Supreme Court in 2020 prevented DACA’s termination on technical grounds.
Spokespeople for the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Trump transition team similarly did not immediately say how the incoming administration would approach DACA. Trump and his advisers have pledged to launch a sweeping crackdown on illegal and legal immigration, vowing to oversee mass deportations of those living in the U.S. illegally, enact tougher border controls and cut legal admissions of immigrants and refugees.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the 5th Circuit’s ruling “a win for Texas.”
“I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump to ensure that the rule of law is restored, and the illegal immigration crisis is finally stopped,” Paxton said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Greisa Martinez Rosas, the executive director of United We Dream, a progressive group that advocates on behalf of DACA beneficiaries, denounced the court order as an “attack” on “immigrant young people.”
