The Obama program ‘Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,’ otherwise known as ‘Dreamers,’ which protects illegal immigrants from deportation, has been declared illegal by a federal judge.
The program was created by Obama in 2012 and currently protects about 580,000 “Dreamers,” or illegal immigrants.
Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas issued the ruling earlier this week.
“Litigation revolving around the legality of DACA, in one form or another, has existed for nearly a decade,” he wrote.
“While sympathetic to the predicament of DACA recipients and their families, this Court has expressed its concerns about the legality of the program for some time. The solution for these deficiencies lies with the legislature, not the executive or judicial branches,” Hanen wrote.
Hanen added that there were no “material differences” between the Obama-era policy and the Biden administration’s rule to keep DACA active as a regulation, CBS reported.
“As such, the Final Rule suffers from the same legal impediments,” he wrote.
“Congress’s alleged failure to pass, or, stated differently, its decision not to enact legislation, does not empower the Executive Branch to ‘legislate’ on its own — especially when that ‘legislation’ is contrary to actual existing legislation,” Hanen wrote.
“The Executive Branch cannot usurp the power bestowed on Congress by the Constitution — even to fill a void.”
According to the Associated Press, Hanen also ruled in 2021 that the program violated the federal Administrative Procedures Act.
The Biden administration tried to tweak the program, rolling out a newer version in October.
But after multiple states filed lawsuits, the judge ruled it was illegal.
Hanen said the order would not impact those enrolled in the program.
“The Court, as it did before, hereby stays the effective date of the vacatur as to all DACA recipients who received their initial DACA status prior to July 16, 2021. The defendants may continue to administer the program as to those individuals, and that administration may include processing and granting DACA renewal applications for those individuals,” Hanen wrote Wednesday, according to ABC.
“To be clear, neither this order nor the accompanying supplemental injunction requires the (Department of Homeland Security) or the Department of Justice to take any immigration, deportation, or criminal action against any DACA recipient, applicant, or any other individual that would otherwise not be taken,” Hanen wrote.
An appeal is expected to the ruling and will likely reach the Supreme Court.
As The AP notes: In 2016, the Supreme Court had a 4-4 vote on an expanded version of the program and a similar program for parents a lower court had ruled was illegal. In 2020, the Supreme Court tossed out the Trump administration’s plan to end DACA, saying the administration acted improperly. In 2022, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Hanna’s 2021 ruling against DACA but sent the case back for review due to the changes the Biden administration had made.
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