A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the Obama-era program was illegal, but allows for current immigrants enrolled in DACA to remain protected.
A U.S. appeals court ruled Wednesday that an Obama-era policy protecting young immigrants from deportation was unlawful, posing questions about the future of the nearly 600,000 immigrants enrolled in the program.
A panel from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a lower court’s decision that deemed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) illegal last year after Texas and other states‘ Republican attorneys general sued to end the program. DACA allows eligible young immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to apply for a work permit and be protected from deportation. Membership in the program is subject to renewal every two years.
In its decision Wednesday, the appeals court allowed for current DACA enrollees—also known as Dreamers—to maintain their status, but continued to block new applicants from applying. The panel of three judges on the case also wrote in their opinion that they defer the „final rule“ of the DACA program back to the lower courts to decide on the program’s fate after President Joe Biden issued new regulations for the program in August.
