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DACA reviewed in Federal Court
A controversial policy that shielded some undocumented immigrants from deportation heads back to the Federal Court today.
null - A federal appeals court will hear arguments Thursday on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy.
More than 500,000 immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children are protected from deportation under DACA.
Texas is one of the seven Republican-led states that sued over the initiative in 2018, saying DACA costs the states money and that it went beyond President Obama's authority to create the policy in 2012.
In 2021, a federal judge in Texas ruled the program was unlawful. That decision was appealed, and now arguments will be heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans.
In June, on the 12th anniversary of the initiative, President Joe Biden spoke about his continued support for DACA.
"I refuse to believe that to secure our border, we have to walk away from being an American. The best generations have been renewed, revitalized and refreshed by the talent, the skill, the hard work, the courage and determination from immigrants coming to our country," said President Biden.
In 2021, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reacted to the state's ruling to block new DACA applications, saying, "I think it’s right to stop a president who just decided that he didn’t like federal law and came up with his own immigration laws. We sued him, rightfully so, for violating federal law, and we won."
It could take weeks or months before the court issues a decision. If DACA is ruled unlawful, it will probably not end immediately.
The case is expected to end up in the Supreme Court.