A Bush-appointed (i.e., conservative) federal judge in Texas issued an expected ruling on Friday, July 16, 2021, declaring that the Obama-era DACA program, which shields immigrant minors illegally brought to the U.S. by their parents from deportation, is illegal. However, the judge stayed immediate implementation of most the ruling, and for now only barred new applications. Read story here; the actual 82-page court order is here.
This was a lawsuit brought by Texas and several other states against the U.S. government and 22 “Dreamer” defendants. The court noted the DACA program did more than give “Dreamers,” in effect, permission to stay in the United States; it also made them eligible for work permits and government benefits such as Social Security and Medicaid. Because Medicaid is a joint federal-state program, that imposed a financial burden on the states. The court also noted that requiring Texas to issue drivers licenses to “Dreamers” does, too (although that seems like a very minor expense).
It would be a mistake to dismiss the ruling as a partisan judge lashing out against a “liberal” program, or assume it will be overturned by higher courts, although it might be. The same judge struck down an Obama administration attempt to extend the DACA program to parents of “Dreamers,” i.e. the so-called DAPA program, and that ruling was upheld by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and left intact by a deadlocked (4-4) U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has rebuffed previous attempts to sink DACA in the courts, but with 3 new Trump-appointed justices, it’s hard to predict what would happen if the issue comes before the highest court again.
Without question, Congress could enact the DACA program into law, but did not, and that’s where it gets tricky. Having failed to get it through the congressional logjam over GOP opposition, the Obama administration adopted it as executive policy, via a memorandum issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
From the beginning, Republicans denounced that as executive overreach, but the judge’s ruling appears to suggest the noncompliance he found with the federal Administrative Procedures Act can be remedied. But subjecting the policy to the APA is in conflict with the concepts of managerial and prosecutorial discretion. In the previous litigation involving DAPA, appellate-level dissenters argued the administration could, as a matter of prosecutorial discretion, chose not to enforce immigration laws against “Dreamers” without going through the formal rulemaking process; but this is not the majority or prevailing view in the higher federal courts that have considered the matter.
DACA’s litigation history is complex and convoluted, so it’s hard to predict where things will go from here. Democrats hope to get DACA legislation through Congress by using the budget resolution process, but that remains to be seen. At the end of the day, yesterday’s ruling is just the latest chapter in a long-running legal and political saga that still has no end in sight, and its only impact for now is to shut the door to new DACA enrollments. But the administration can still decline to deport those who meet its eligibility criteria, so all it does is deny them eligibility for some state-funded benefits.
The problem is Congress writes the laws.The Congress did not write and pass this DACA. Even the liberals at the appeals and Supreme court should come to the same conclusion. The fact that when the case was last before the Supreme Court and the court said the administration has to hold hearings ect., rather blatantly overlooked how DACA came into being. It was one of those huh moments for anyone thinking through the ruling. you gotta hold hearings and do comment periods and let the public in to make administrative changes to something the previous administration made out of whole cloth.
DACA is simply not legal. Never has been. This finding by a district court is the proper ruling.
Sure the administration can decline to prosecute, but it will loose this fig leaf, and appear to be not enforcing the laws of the United States, something they made a big deal about the previous administration not enforcing the laws of the United States. Americans dislike this kind of action. It will cost Biden and Harris at the polls in 2022 and 2024. Gives Republicans an easy target to whip or cudgel.
That’s your opinion.