A federal appeals court struck down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy that included amnesty for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, Just the News reported. The decision imperils the pet program of President Barack Obama
A lower court had already deemed that DACA was unconstitutional. The decision Friday at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a majority of its findings.
Notably, the Fifth Circuit upheld U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen's September 2023 decision that applied only to Texas. It was the only state that presented "sufficient evidence that DACA has caused the harms it alleges and that those costs would be partially alleviated if DACA were enjoined."
The Lone Star State noted that "DACA recipients impose over $750 million in annual costs" and that "a favorable judgment against DACA would at least partially alleviate Texas’s harm," according to Hanen's decision. It's unclear what the future of the program is except that it will likely go to the U.S. Supreme Court for review.
According to Fox News, President-elect Donald Trump attempted to abolish DACA during his first term while trying to make room for the so-called Dreamers. These children of illegal immigrants number nearly half a million who have gone to school, lived, and worked in the U.S.
Their fate has not yet been determined, though they have been allowed to work and live in the U.S. while the courts hash it out. The fight has persisted even as President Joe Biden drafted his version in 2022, which would have eliminated the portion that was rejected.
If the challenge ends up in the Supreme Court once again, it will be the third time the highest court in the land has had a crack at it. The provision has been under legal challenge since Obama presented it in 2012.
In 2016, the Supreme Court heard the appeal but was deadlocked 4-4 since there was a vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. DACA survived a 2020 challenge because the court determined Trump did not follow proper procedure when trying to end the program.
The high court now has a 6-3 conservative majority, which may help decisively cancel the problem altogether. Coupled with the fact that Trump is about to begin another four-year term, the future of the immigration policy appears to be in peril.
At the heart of this issue is the fact that Obama tried to overhaul immigration enforcement in an unprecedented way. Welcoming illegal immigrants was a goal of the administration, and Obama expressed outrage when Trump tried to cancel his pet provision to do just that.
"Let’s be clear: The action taken today isn’t required legally. It’s a political decision, and a moral question," Obama said at the time, according to the Washington Post.
"Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn’t threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us. … Kicking them out won’t lower the unemployment rate, or lighten anyone’s taxes, or raise anybody’s wages," Obama claimed.
"It is self-defeating — because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel," Obama later added, tugging at the heartstrings.
It's a terrible thing to be in the position many of those who came to the U.S. as children and have built their lives here are in now. However, caution is necessary as every amnesty program encourages more of the behavior that created the problem in the first place.
