DACA Immigration Protections Must Continue for Now, Judge Says
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
New York Times
JAN. 9, 2018
A rally outside Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office last week in Los Angeles. Credit Reed Saxon/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In the middle of the intense political fight about the program that shields from deportation young immigrants who were brought illegally to the United States as children, a federal judge in California late Tuesday issued a nationwide injunction ordering the administration to start the program back up again, saying the decision to kill it was improper.
President Barack Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, in 2012 to also give them the ability to work legally in the United States. President Trump ended the program in September, saying that Mr. Obama’s actions were unconstitutional and an overreach of executive power.
That decision has set off an intense political debate in Washington as Democrats and Republicans spar about how to provide relief for about 800,000 immigrants who could face deportation when the program ends on March 5. Mr. Trump met with lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon in a remarkable, hourlong televised meeting to begin negotiations.
But critics of the president’s decision to end the program, including several states and organizations, had already sued the administration, saying that shutting down the Obama-era program was arbitrary and done without following the proper legal procedures.
One of the lead plaintiffs in the case, Janet Napolitano, is currently the president of the sprawling University of California system of colleges but was serving as the secretary of homeland security for Mr. Obama in 2012 and was an architect of the DACA program.
Judge William Alsup of Federal District Court in San Francisco agreed, writing in his ruling on Tuesday that the administration must “maintain the DACA program on a nationwide basis” as the legal challenge to the president’s decision goes forward.
The judge questioned in his ruling the administration’s contention that the DACA program had not been put into place legally. Judge Alsup asserted that the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has long had the authority to grant the kind of temporary protections that formed the basis of the DACA program.
The judge wrote that previous recipients of the DACA protections must be allowed to renew their status in the program, though the government will not be required to accept new applications for the program from immigrants who had not previously submitted an application. The judge also said the administration could continue to prevent DACA recipients from returning to the United States if they leave the country.
It is not clear what the legal effect could be from the judge’s ruling, but the Trump administration may be headed for more intense legal wrangling like the kind that happened after the president’s travel bans.
The administration could quickly appeal the judge’s ruling, hoping that an appeals court would prevent the injunction from taking effect and allowing the shutdown of the DACA program as the president announced in September.
But such a ruling could itself be appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court, potentially tying the fate of the DACA program in court action for days, weeks or longer.
Either way, the ruling could have serious political effect.
If the courts order to restart the DACA program stands, that could take pressure off Republicans and Democrats to find a political solution for the young immigrants who could be deported if the program ends.
Almost immediately after the president rescinded the DACA program in September, Mr. Trump expressed sympathy for the young immigrants who were very young when their parents brought them to the country illegally. Mr. Trump repeated his sympathies on Tuesday at the White House meeting.
Democrats have seized on the president’s attitude, urging their Republican colleagues to support legislation that would permanently legalize the Dreamers to work in the United States, and give them an eventual path to earn American citizenship.
But hard-line conservatives say that would amount to an amnesty program for lawbreakers, and some Republicans in Congress have been pushing for other immigration changes before they will support legislation for the Dreamers.
In particular, Republicans at the White House meeting demanded an end to rules that allow immigrants to sponsor their extended family members — aunts, uncles, cousins — to enter the United States. And they want an end to a State Department visa lottery program that prioritizes legal immigration from certain countries in Africa and elsewhere.
Democrats have warned that demands for those measures could undermine Democratic support for legislation on the Dreamers, potentially threatening a budget deal necessary to keep the government open past this month.
New York Times
JAN. 9, 2018
A rally outside Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office last week in Los Angeles. Credit Reed Saxon/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In the middle of the intense political fight about the program that shields from deportation young immigrants who were brought illegally to the United States as children, a federal judge in California late Tuesday issued a nationwide injunction ordering the administration to start the program back up again, saying the decision to kill it was improper.
President Barack Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, in 2012 to also give them the ability to work legally in the United States. President Trump ended the program in September, saying that Mr. Obama’s actions were unconstitutional and an overreach of executive power.
That decision has set off an intense political debate in Washington as Democrats and Republicans spar about how to provide relief for about 800,000 immigrants who could face deportation when the program ends on March 5. Mr. Trump met with lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon in a remarkable, hourlong televised meeting to begin negotiations.
But critics of the president’s decision to end the program, including several states and organizations, had already sued the administration, saying that shutting down the Obama-era program was arbitrary and done without following the proper legal procedures.
One of the lead plaintiffs in the case, Janet Napolitano, is currently the president of the sprawling University of California system of colleges but was serving as the secretary of homeland security for Mr. Obama in 2012 and was an architect of the DACA program.
Judge William Alsup of Federal District Court in San Francisco agreed, writing in his ruling on Tuesday that the administration must “maintain the DACA program on a nationwide basis” as the legal challenge to the president’s decision goes forward.
The judge questioned in his ruling the administration’s contention that the DACA program had not been put into place legally. Judge Alsup asserted that the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has long had the authority to grant the kind of temporary protections that formed the basis of the DACA program.
The judge wrote that previous recipients of the DACA protections must be allowed to renew their status in the program, though the government will not be required to accept new applications for the program from immigrants who had not previously submitted an application. The judge also said the administration could continue to prevent DACA recipients from returning to the United States if they leave the country.
It is not clear what the legal effect could be from the judge’s ruling, but the Trump administration may be headed for more intense legal wrangling like the kind that happened after the president’s travel bans.
The administration could quickly appeal the judge’s ruling, hoping that an appeals court would prevent the injunction from taking effect and allowing the shutdown of the DACA program as the president announced in September.
But such a ruling could itself be appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court, potentially tying the fate of the DACA program in court action for days, weeks or longer.
Either way, the ruling could have serious political effect.
If the courts order to restart the DACA program stands, that could take pressure off Republicans and Democrats to find a political solution for the young immigrants who could be deported if the program ends.
Almost immediately after the president rescinded the DACA program in September, Mr. Trump expressed sympathy for the young immigrants who were very young when their parents brought them to the country illegally. Mr. Trump repeated his sympathies on Tuesday at the White House meeting.
Democrats have seized on the president’s attitude, urging their Republican colleagues to support legislation that would permanently legalize the Dreamers to work in the United States, and give them an eventual path to earn American citizenship.
But hard-line conservatives say that would amount to an amnesty program for lawbreakers, and some Republicans in Congress have been pushing for other immigration changes before they will support legislation for the Dreamers.
In particular, Republicans at the White House meeting demanded an end to rules that allow immigrants to sponsor their extended family members — aunts, uncles, cousins — to enter the United States. And they want an end to a State Department visa lottery program that prioritizes legal immigration from certain countries in Africa and elsewhere.
Democrats have warned that demands for those measures could undermine Democratic support for legislation on the Dreamers, potentially threatening a budget deal necessary to keep the government open past this month.
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