A federal judge in Houston named Andrew Hanen has sided with Texas and eight other states who have filed a lawsuit to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, programme.
On Wednesday, a federal court ruled that a revamped version of a government policy that shields hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the US as children from deportation is unconstitutional.
Hanen prohibited the government from approving any new applications while maintaining the programme for current beneficiaries throughout the anticipated appeals process. Hanen stated that the federal government is not required to take any action against DACA recipients as a result of his order.
The states have contended that because the Obama administration bypassed Congress in 2012, it lacked the authority to establish the programme.
Hanen deemed the programme unconstitutional in 2021 after concluding that the federal Administrative Procedures Act’s required public notice and discussion periods had not been followed.
With a new version of DACA that went into effect in October 2022 and was open to public input as part of a formal rule-making process, the Biden administration attempted to allay Hanen’s worries.
But Hanen, who was chosen by then-President George W. Bush to serve in that position in 2002, decided that the revised form of DACA remained unlawful. He had earlier declared that DACA was unlawful and that Congress would be responsible for passing legislation protecting those covered by the initiative, sometimes known as “Dreamers.”
Hanen had also earlier determined that the states had a legal basis for bringing their complaint because the programme had caused them harm.
Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas, and Mississipi are the states that filed the lawsuit.The federal government, the Mexican American Legal Defence and Educational Fund, and the state of New Jersey, who were defending the programme, claimed the states had failed to provide proof that any of the expenses they claim to have paid were related to DACA recipients. Additionally, they claimed that the Department of Homeland Security has been given legal authority by Congress to establish immigration enforcement guidelines.
Hanen had earlier ruled the DACA programme unlawful, but he had left it in place for individuals who had already benefited from it. However, he had decided that while appeals were pending, no new candidates could be accepted.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, there were 578,680 DACA participants as of the end of March.
Over the years, the programme has experienced an uphill battle in the courts.
In 2016, the Supreme Court couldn’t agree 4-4 on whether to expand DACA or create a separate programme for DACA recipients’ parents. DACA was let to continue when the high court, in a 5-4 decision, found that the Trump administration had terminated programme illegally.
