On Wednesday, The Epoch Times reported that a Federal Appeals Court has ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is illegal.
The DACA program protects eligible immigrants who came to the United States when they were children from deportation. DACA gives undocumented immigrants: 1) protection from deportation, and 2) a work permit. The program requires that the DACA status and work permit be renewed every two years.
The article reports:
The ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday (pdf) affirms a decision in July 2021 by a Texas federal judge—U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen—who declared the DACA program illegal and blocked new applications but kept the policy intact for current beneficiaries. The appeals court similarly left the DACA program intact for current beneficiaries, which means current DACA recipients can continue to file renewal applications.
The appeals court on Wednesday also sent the case back to Hanen to have him review a revised set of rules that the Biden administration announced in August, to determine its legality.
The Biden administration’s new final rule to “preserve and fortify” DACA codifies the existing policy, with limited changes, into federal regulation. It was subject to public comments as part of a formal rule-making process intended to improve its chances of surviving lawsuits challenging it. It’s set to be effective Oct. 31 to replace the 2012 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memorandum that had created DACA.
The article explains the reason for the ruling:
Hanen, in his decision in July declaring DACA illegal, had stated that DACA goes against the Constitution given that Congress never provided the executive branch authorization to grant deportation reprieves to illegal immigrants in the United States.
Chief Judge Priscilla Richman of the 5th Circuit of Appeals wrote in the opinion on Wednesday: “The district court’s excellent opinion correctly identified fundamental substantive defects in the program. The DACA memorandum contracts significant parts of the [Immigration and Naturalization Act].”
She added: “DACA creates a new class of otherwise removable aliens who may obtain lawful presence, work authorization, and associated benefits. Congress determined which aliens can receive these benefits, and it did not include DACA recipients among them.
“We agree with the district court’s reasoning and its conclusions that the DACA Memorandum contravenes comprehensive statutory schemes for removal, allocation of lawful presence, and allocation of work authorization.”
Children (now adults) who were brought here illegally as young children may not have an understanding of what is actually their native language or understand their native culture. To send them back would be cruel. Let’s not add to the program, but let’s have compassion on those who have been here for ten years or more.