A legal challenge to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program headed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, The Hill reported. The Obama-era program could find its way to the Supreme Court depending on the lower court's ruling.
The DACA program has faced several legal challenges. The latest to wend its way through the court system comes from Texas and could strike at the heart of the program's legality.
A three-panel judge began hearing arguments this week in a case that could affect half a million residents of the U.S. The Justice Department argued on behalf of the so-called dreamers after Texas District Judge Andrew Hanen had ruled the plan illegal.
"Today, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard a case challenging the legality of DACA, threatening the lives of the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who rely on the program. These young people have grown up here, built their lives here, and contribute so much to our economy and communities," Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) said in a statement.
According to Fox News, the program was meant as a way to grant legal status to illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. It has been at the center of many legal battles over the years since former President Barack Obama signed it into a 2012 executive order.
DACA has faced several legal challenges over the years. In 2015, Hanen quashed add-ons to the program, including striking down the creation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program.
Then, in 2021, Hanen ruled that DACA was completely unlawful. The Department of Homeland Security was instructed "to post a public notice, within 3 calendar days of this Injunction, to be displayed prominently on its website and on the websites of all other relevant agencies, that a United States District Court has found the DACA program to be illegal[.]"
President Joe Biden then tried to advance the program again but was similarly thwarted in Hanen's 2023 ruling. The judge wrote that "the Court finds that the Final Rule, like the 2012 DACA Memorandum before it, is subject to this Court's (and the Fifth Circuit's) prior rulings" at the time.
"There are no material differences between the two programs. As such, the Final Rule suffers from the same legal impediments," he added.
After the latest attempt failed, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre expressed dismay at the decision. "We are deeply disappointed in today’s DACA ruling from the District Court in Southern Texas," she said in a September 2023 statement.
"On day one of his Administration, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the federal government to take all appropriate actions to 'preserve and fortify the DACA policy. Consistent with that directive, the Administration has defended the DACA policy from legal challenges, and issued a final rule codifying this longstanding policy," Jean-Pierre added.
However, that may be difficult to uphold if the fight makes it to the Supreme Court. Thanks to former President Donald Trump, the balance of judges leans conservative.
Moreover, Trump may win the White House in November and will likely maintain his tough immigration stance in his second term. The fight over the program could end there.
The problems of unchecked illegal immigration continue to plague America. A program like DACA is good on paper, but in practice, it becomes yet another loophole to allow more unvetted migrants into the U.S.
