Federal judge rules against states, says DACA can stay
A federal judge in Texas has declined to order the U.S. government to stop an Obama-era program shielding young immigrants from deportation.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling Friday is a blow to opponents of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Hanen has questioned the legality of DACA in the past. But on Friday, he said opponents couldn’t prove that allowing the program to continue was causing irreparable harm. He said more harm would be done if the program ended.
Texas led a group of states in filing the lawsuit in hopes Hanen would rule DACA unconstitutional. That would have triggered a conflict with three other federal orders and likely drawn the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Texas was joined in filing the lawsuit by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia.
Department of Justice spokesman Devin O’Malley issued the following statement in regards to the judge’s ruling: “As the Justice Department has consistently argued, DACA is an unlawful attempt to circumvent Congress, and we are pleased the court agreed today.”
FWD.us – a bipartisan organization advocating for comprehensive immigration reform – said today’s ruling “means that DACA renewals will continue in the near-term. This is good news for DACA recipients, their families and communities, and all Americans. Moreover, this ruling makes clear the weakness of the Trump Administration’s legal efforts and their attempts to end DACA renewals by lifting the injunctions that stated the manner in which the administration sought to cancel DACA was unlawful.”
