Judge orders government to fully reinstate DACA program



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A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to completely restore an Obama-era program designed to protect undocumented immigrant youth from deportation, dealing what could be a final blow to the long-standing effort President Trump to end protections.

The program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was created by President Barack Obama in 2012. Over the years, it has protected more than 800,000 people, known as “dreamers.” », Which met a series of strict eligibility conditions.

Brooklyn U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis ordered the administration to allow newly eligible immigrants to file new applications for protection under the program, rescinding a memorandum released this summer by Chad Wolf on Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, who restricted the program to those already registered. No less than 300,000 new candidates could now be eligible, according to the lawyers who pushed for reinstatement.

The Homeland Security Department’s memo also limited the program’s benefits, including work permits, to one year, but the judge on Friday ordered the government to reduce them to full two years. Judge Garaufis, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, also said the government must find a way to contact all immigrants eligible for the program to inform them of the change.

The program still faces other challenges, including a case in federal court in Texas, where Republican attorneys general have asked a judge to declare the program illegal.

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has vowed to restore the DACA program when he takes office next month, but a legislative solution that would permanently allow dreamers to live and work legally in the United States remains elusive, leaving their fate to the changing political winds.

Yet the decision is a significant legal setback to Mr. Trump’s years-long attempt to keep his promise to end the program, which applies to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States in their youth and have lived in America most of their life. .

As a candidate, Mr. Trump insisted that the program, which Mr. Obama put in place through executive action, was unconstitutional and, as president, he decided to ‘End it in September 2017. The legal battle over the program culminated in a Supreme Court ruling this summer in which judges said the president did not follow proper procedures to end the program.

As a result of the decision, Wolf only partially reinstated the program, refusing to allow new immigrants to apply and reducing the length of renewals to one year, instead of the two years previously allowed under the program.

In November, Judge Garaufis ruled that the partial reinstatement was invalid because it was issued in the form of a memo from Mr Wolf, who Judge Garaufis said had been unlawfully appointed to his post. On Friday, after hearing from both sides, the judge said the agency was to announce the news of the full reinstatement on its website by Monday.

“This is a very big day for DACA recipients and immigrant youth,” said Karen Tumlin, director of the Justice Action Center, which argued the class action lawsuit. “This opens the door for over a million young immigrants who have been unfairly denied their chance to apply to DACA.”

The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Adam Liptak contribution to reports.

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