A Texas federal judge ruled DACA illegal last week, partially suspending the crucial immigration program and halting all new applicants to it. President Biden called the decision “very disappointing” and said the Department of Justice would appeal it, while immigrants’ rights groups urged Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The ruling is the latest and perhaps most devastating development in the legal saga that has surrounded the program since former President Obama introduced it in 2012 after years of failed attempts at immigration reform. The program, which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, covers undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US by their parents as children, granting them temporary protection from deportation and allowing them to work. At least 650,000 people, known as Dreamers, are protected by the program, including about 200,000 in California, the largest number for any single state.

But conservatives have fought the program with legal challenges since its inception. No new DACA applicants were accepted for nearly three years under former President Donald Trump. Last summer, the Supreme Court blocked Trump from ending the program, calling his move to stop it “arbitrary and capricious.” The court did not rule on the legality of the program in general, however. Now, Texas judge Andrew Hanen has ruled that Obama overstepped his authority as president when he implemented the program, siding with Republican attorneys general who made that argument in their legal challenge. Hanen, a Republican appointee to the federal bench, was widely expected to rule against DACA.

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 Hanen’s decision does not prevent existing DACA recipients from applying to renew their status, but it does prevent thousands of new applications from being able to apply moving forward.

Immigrants’ rights groups reacted to the ruling, slamming Hanen’s decision and calling on Congress and the Biden administration to finally pass comprehensive immigration reform. “This decision will spread fear and confusion throughout our workforce and our community, a community that has already been devastated by the impact of COVID-19, xenophobia, and the decision-making paralysis in Congress,” Texas-based group RAICES said in a statement. “Judge Hanen’s rash decision reiterates the immediate need for Congress and the Biden administration to keep their promise and create a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented people in the United States.”

“Today’s ruling is evidence that DACA is not enough,” Greisa Martinez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream, said in another statement. “The program has always been temporary, leaving hundreds of thousands of lives vulnerable to the next attack…. The only thing that can protect all immigrant youth, TPS holders, farm workers and other essential workers, is a path to citizenship through reconciliation. Until President Biden and Democrats in Congress deliver on citizenship, the lives of millions of undocumented people remain on the line. Democrats must pass a pathway to citizenship this year, no excuses!”

Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, one of the original sponsors of legislation to protect Dreamers, suggested that Democrats may now attempt to pass immigration reform on their own, without the support of Republicans.

Isabelle Price

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