WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Texas ruled that the Biden administration’s new rule codifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is not lawful, bringing DACA a step closer to its potential end.
The decision is likely to be appealed but faces tough odds in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The court already found the original DACA program to have been unlawful in an earlier decision.
Nearly 600,000 DACA recipients are studying or working in the U.S., including in industries such as health care and education in which worker shortages are an ongoing and serious challenge.
“Congress must get off the sidelines,” said Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum. “A permanent, legislative solution would provide certainty not only to DACA recipients but also to their families, employers, communities and schools.
“About 80% of Republican voters want Republicans and Democrats to work together on solutions for people already here and contributing, such as Dreamers, as part of targeted border and immigration reforms. With such broad support, Congress should come to the table now.
“Without action from Congress, DACA recipients, their employers and their communities face an ever more tenuous future. Families and neighbors face the very real possibility that their loved ones will be forced to retreat into the shadows or return to countries they have never called home.”
Americans’ overwhelming support for solutions for Dreamers, in addition to border and immigration reforms that reflect American values, is apparent in polling this year from the National Immigration Forum and The Bullfinch Group. In May, 82% of registered voters, including 80% of Republicans, said they agree that “As the U.S. works to restore order at the border, it is important that Republicans and Democrats work together to pass immigration reforms that address labor shortages and inflation, and protect people already here and contributing.”
And in February, 76% of registered voters, including 74% of Republicans, said they support “Republicans and Democrats working together on immigration reforms that strengthen border security, allow immigrants brought to the United States as children to earn citizenship, and ensure a legal, reliable workforce for America’s farmers and ranchers.”