A federal judge in Texas rejected an appeal from the United States Government and once again declared DACA illegal, a policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who arrived in the country as children.
Judge Andrew Hanen on Wednesday rejected an attempt by President Joe Biden’s administration to register the plan in federal law, hoping to protect it from lawsuits and benefit more than half a million beneficiaries of immigration protection.
The decision, which will likely be subject to a new appeal by the Democratic administration, does not order any action against current DACA recipients, such as deportation or invalidation of work permits.
Hanen, who in 2021 declared the initial memorandum that created this program illegal, argued in the ruling that while he has “sympathy” for the dreamers [sonhadores]as DACA recipients are known, has “problems with the legality of the program.”
“The solution” for these people “is in the legislative branch and not in the executive or judicial branch,” the judge stressed in the document.
“The initial memorandum was promulgated illegally” and, according to the judge, the Biden administration was limited to “trying to formalize” a program that the judge had already declared irregular.
“There is no material difference” between the document that created the DACA program in 2012, under the administration of former Democratic President Barack Obama (2009-2017), and the one presented by the current administration last year, Hanen highlighted.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), which intervened in the legal process to defend DACA, has already indicated that it will appeal the decision.
“From the beginning it was clear that it would be the higher courts, including the Supreme Court, that would have to decide” on the legality of the program, said the president of MALDEF, Thomas A. Sanez, in written statements to the EFE agency.
This legal battle, arising from a lawsuit brought by eight Republican-governed states, has dragged on for years and is now likely to reach the Supreme Court.
DACA has allowed more than half a million immigrants who came to the United States as minors to remain in the country without fear of deportation and work legally.
Activist groups have called on Congress to take action to find a permanent solution to the problem. dreamersstating that it is only a matter of time before the courts decide to permanently end the program.
DACA was created by the Obama administration as a temporary measure, but his successor in the White House, Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021), decided in his first year in office to end the program, triggering a domino effect of lawsuits and counter attacks. lawsuits in court that led to the current situation.
Source: TSF
