US: Obama-era programme for child migrants declared illegal, new DACA applications blocked

The Obama-era immigration programme that protected over 600,000 unauthorised immigrants, including thousands of Indians, from deportation has been found illegal by a federal judge in Texas, striking a blow to the Biden administration's efforts to safeguard "Dreamers." In 2012, the Obama administration introduced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which provided protection from deportation and work permits to illegal immigrants who entered the country as kids.

Current DACA participants to not be affected

According to CNN, US District Court Judge Andrew Hanen granted a motion by Texas and six other Republican-led states, ruling that President Barack Obama's administration had overstepped its powers by creating the programme. Hanen contended that the Department of Homeland Security did not have the jurisdiction to create DACA and that it barred immigration agents from enforcing the Immigration and Nationality Act's removal provisions. He determined that the policy was administered illegally and ordered DHS to stop approving DACA applications, while he added that it could continue to accept applications and that current DACA participants' status would not be affected.

Hanen, a Republican appointment of former President George W. Bush, concluded that Congress did not give the DHS the authority to create DACA and that it precluded immigration agents from enforcing the Immigration and Nationality Act's removal provisions.

''Congress has not granted the Executive Branch free rein to grant lawful presence outside the ambit of the statutory scheme,'' he wrote.

The judge determined that the agency's reading of provisions was "overly broad," and that the laws did not give the federal government the jurisdiction to implement the programme.

''DACA would grant lawful presence and work authorisation to over a million people for whom Congress had made no provision and has consistently refused to make such a provision,'' Hanen added.

How a 2018 lawsuit led to the ruling

According to The Texas Tribune, the ruling derives from a 2018 lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and eight other states in response to the federal position. And as per the complaint, Texas and the other states are suffering irreparable loss as a result of the additional expenditures of providing health care, education, and law enforcement protection to DACA recipients. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has directed that the initiative be strengthened.

Last year, the US Supreme Court rejected former Republican President Donald Trump's attempt to repeal DACA. According to US media estimates, there are more than 600,000 DACA recipients across the US, including 101,970 in Texas, which has the second-highest number of DACA recipients behind California, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Future DACA applications would be barred as a result of the verdict. It does not cancel current permits for hundreds of thousands of individuals, but it does put them back in dangerous legal limbo and reminds them of the dangers they face.

Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and West Virginia, all Republican-controlled states, joined Texas in filing the complaint. The only authority that can provide a permanent solution for DACA recipients through legislation is the United States Congress, yet immigration legislation has been blocked for years. Following Friday's order, Democrats quickly called for action.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, ''As we await the swift stay that the law clearly requires, Democrats, will continue to press for any and all paths to ensure that the Dream and Promise Act, now passed twice by the House, becomes the law of the land.'' 

A renew call for Road to Citizenship

''Democrats call on Republicans in Congress to join us in respecting the will of the American people and the law, to ensure that Dreamers have a permanent path to citizenship,'' Pelosi, a top Democrat, said, calling Dreamers the ''pride of our nation.'' Todd Schulte, head of the progressive organisation FWD.us, expressed dismay with the decision, claiming that DACA has been a huge accomplishment that has changed many people's lives.

''Today makes absolutely clear: Only a permanent legislative solution passed by Congress will eliminate the fear and uncertainty that DACA recipients have been forced to live with for years. ''We call on each and every elected official to do everything within their power so that DACA recipients and their families and communities can live free from fear, and continue to build their lives here,'' Schulte said.

The verdict was also utilised by immigration advocates to renew their call for a road to citizenship for all illegal immigrants.

''Judge Hanen's rash decision to suspend the DACA programme reiterates the immediate need for Congress and the Biden administration to keep their promise and create a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented people in the US,'' the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services tweeted.

According to a 2019 research by South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), there are at least 630,000 illegal Indians in the United States, up 72 per cent since 2010. There were roughly 2,550 active Indian DACA enrollees as of August 2018. Only 13% of the 20,000 DACA-eligible Indians have applied for and been granted DACA.