There’s good news and bad news about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The United States 5th Circuit Court affirmed the 2021 ruling of a Texas judge that DACA was illegal.
But here’s the catch – it did not order the government to stop it.
It still ordered the government to stop approving the first-time DACA applicants but it did not order for the end of the program.
How did this happen? The Circuit Court ruled that the Texas judged who decided DACA to be illegal, Judge Andrew Hanen, should review the legality of regulations that the Biden administration set.
These regulations refer to the Biden administration’s effort to codify DACA through legislative regulation instead of law, which leaders have so far failed to do.
These regulations are scheduled to take effect on October 31, and were crafted after DACA was still in limbo – the period of time after the government appealed the decision of the Texas judge declaring DACA illegal.
Essentially, the Circuit Court wants Hanen to reevaluate the decision based on the new factor at play – the new rules set by the Biden administration.
We earlier wrote about this in this newsletter and as we expected, it did have an effect on the future of DACA even if it was not as potent as a Congress-passed law.
This means DACA recipients will continue to be protected from deportation and will still keep their jobs.
On the flip side, DACA recipients still have no pathway to citizenship.
To protect the future of Dreamers, American leaders still need to pass a law to give them pathways to citizenship. Until then, they Dreamers can only continue to dream of a way forward.
To make sense of DACA and how to navigate this limbo, consult your trusted immigration lawyer.
