Appeals Court Determines DACA Policy Illegal Despite Allowing 600,000 Immigrant 'Dreamers' To Stay

A United States Federal Appeals Court has determined that the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is illegal but allows the roughly 600,000 immigrant "dreamers" already in the country to stay.

The program is a policy that protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children. The court said that the policy violated federal law but sent it to a lower federal court for further consideration.

Obama-Era DACA Policy

The three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit's decision sided with Texas and other conservative states that sued in 2018 but maintained the status quo for the DACA program.

The judges made it clear that it was not ruling on a new regulation that was created by the Biden administration in August. The appeals court also sent the case back to the federal district court to review that rule. The Obama-era issue that the court ruled on was already set to run out at the end of this month, as per USA Today.

The appeals court added that there was no clear congressional authorization for the power that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims. The panel noted that the DACA policy violates the substantive requirements of the "federal law that prescribes how federal agencies are supposed to approve new policies."

The DACA policy, which was created by former President Barack Obama in 2012, put a pause on deportations and provided work permits for certain immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children. In time, they were called "Dreamers" and by 2018, there were more than 814,000 people who benefitted from the policy.

According to CBS News, despite the decision, the appeals court did not order President Joe Biden's administration to shut down the DACA policy completely or stop processing renewal applications. The court instead decided to leave in place an order from US Judge Andrew Hanen that leaves the policy intact for current beneficiaries.

Protecting Immigrant Families

Hanen is now responsible for reviewing regulations that the Biden administration revealed in August to address the legal challenges over the Obama administration's decision to create DACA through a memo, instead of a rule open to public comments.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), which represents the federal government in lawsuits, said that it did not agree with the ruling. Authorities vowed to "vigorously defend the lawfulness of DACA as this case proceeds."

Furthermore, the Biden administration is most likely going to file a formal appeal that would pave the way for the conservative-leaning high court to issue a final decision on DACA's legality next year.

In a statement, DHS Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that he was deeply disappointed by the court's decision on Wednesday. He denounced the "ongoing uncertainty it creates for families and communities across the country."

The Republican-led states that supported the decision argued that they were being financially burdened by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on services such as education and health care for people who are being allowed to stay in the United States illegally, Fox News reported.