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Texas launches new threat to DACA

Posted on Jun 30 2017

Attorneys general from Texas and nine other states threatened DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on June 29. In a three-page letter, they denounced DACA and asked that the administration rescind the original DACA memorandum and phase out the DACA program by not renewing any DACA permits and not issuing any new ones. The letter says:

“If, by September 5, 2017, the Executive Branch agrees to rescind the June 15, 2012 DACA memorandum and not to renew or issue any new DACA or Expanded DACA permits in the future, then the plaintiffs that successfully challenged DAPA and Expanded DACA will voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit currently pending in the Southern District of Texas. Otherwise, the complaint in that case will be amended to challenge both the DACA program and the remaining Expanded DACA permits.”

On June 15, the fifth anniversary of DACA, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memorandum saying that it would no longer defend DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Permanent Residents) and DACA+ in federal district court, effectively killing both measures. (DACA+ would have removed the requirement that DACA applicants be under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012. DACA+ also allowed a three-year work permit extension, rather than the two-year extension allowed by the first DACA memorandum.)

In that memorandum, the Department of Homeland Security said that DACA would remain in effect. A DHS spokesperson then said in a New York Times interview that there had been “no final determination made about the DACA program.”

DACA recipients still have no path to legal residence or citizenship. Their temporary and limited protection remains dependent on the continuing acquiescence of the Trump administration, which could terminate DACA by executive action at any time. President Trump has said different things at different times, sometimes threatening to end DACA entirely and sometimes saying DACA recipients “shouldn’t be worried.

The Texas attorney general and his nine colleagues are pushing for the administration to reverse course and end DACA. The administration has several options available:

• It could do nothing and allow DACA to continue for now, but make no provision for further renewals of DACA status and work authorizations after 2018.
• It could terminate DACA but leave authorizations in effect for people who are already covered, as the Texas attorney general requests.
• It could stop accepting first-time applications, but continue to allow people with DACA to renew it.

The BRIDGE Act, introduced in both the House and Senate this year, would be a legislative extension of DACA, but still without any path to legal residence or citizenship.

At this point, it’s hard to predict whether the Trump administration will keep DACA in effect or not.

For more information:

• Text of June 29 Texas Attorney General’s letter requesting end to DACA by September 5
• State Officials Make Legal Threat Against DACA (Inside Higher Ed, 6/30/17)
• GOP officials in 10 states push Trump administration to end DACA program (Washington Post, 6/30/17)
• Text of June 15 2017 DHS memorandum rescinding DAPA and DACA+
• FAQs for June 15, 2017 memorandum
• Rules for DACA eligibility
• As DACA turns five, a future for DREAMers (Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, 6/13/17)
• DACA will stay, but administration says no to DAPA, expanded DACA (Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, 6/16/17)
• New Questions and Answers About DACA (National Immigration Law Center, updated 5/8/2017)
• FAQ: The BRIDGE Act (National Immigration Law Center, updated 4/6/2017)