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A federal judge ruled that the Obama administration had overstepped his authority.
A Texas federal judge ruled on Friday that the Deferred Action Program for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, was illegal, dealing a major blow as the Obama era approaches that protected young people brought illegally into the country against expulsion.
U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen sided with a nine-state group led by Texas and found that the creation of the DACA program violated federal administrative law. Hanen stressed in his ruling that his ruling does not oblige immigration authorities to arrest and deport beneficiaries, but makes them eligible.
The DACA was created by former President Barack Obama in 2012 to help the growing population of undocumented immigrant minors, sometimes called Dreamers, who had little or no say in their immigration process in because of their youth. It is estimated that there are approximately 650,000 people who hold DACA status, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Lawyers for the Texas attorney general’s office argued that the Obama administration overextended its executive authority in creating the program. They were joined in the lawsuit by Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which represented a group of DACA recipients in defending the program, argued at a pre-hearing on the issue that Texas should not be successful in its lawsuit. because none of the States has been harmed by the existence of DACA.
The DACA program maintained bipartisan political support even as Republican-led states decided to end it. A solid majority – 75% – of Republicans are in favor of recipients having the option of obtaining citizenship, as are 92% of Democrats, according to a 2018 Gallup poll.
Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the DACA is the only way for the president to exercise his discretion.
“When you are dealing with the number of people the immigration system has to deal with, you have to make resource decisions,” Saenz said. “It’s hard to imagine an effective way to do it otherwise.”
The Biden administration could act to change the program in a way that satisfies Hanen’s decision, but the future of many DACA recipients will likely be facing the Supreme Court again.
The move also intensifies pressure on Biden to secure legislative victory for DACA recipients, possibly through the reconciliation process.
“Today’s wrongly rendered ruling blatantly flouts the law and precedents as it casts a cloud of fear and uncertainty around the Dreamers, who are a pride of our nation,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a statement. “As we await the swift suspension that the law clearly demands, Democrats will continue to push for all means to ensure that the Dream and Promise Act, now twice passed by the House, becomes the law of the land.”
In response to the news, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in a Tweeter, said it was “more important than ever for Congress to adopt permanent protections for dreamers and provide a pathway to citizenship.”
ABC News’ Ben Siegel and Justin Fishel contributed to this report.
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