The next court hearing in the seemingly never-ending legal odyssey for people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is scheduled for Tuesday in Texas.
The federal judge overseeing the case blocked an expansion of the Obama-era policy years ago. And he has a handful of options to consider this time, like should this case go to trial? Should it be thrown out? Should DACA be declared illegal?
If the judge rules the program is unlawful, it’s unlikely for him to right away order the government to end the program that shields people from deportation, said Thomas Saenz.
“And that’s because everyone recognizes that we are in an evolving context with a new administration coming into office on January 20th, ” said the president and general counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which represents DACA recipients fighting against the lawsuit led by Texas.
Saenz said the incoming Biden administration could even end the case with a new policy that replaces DACA.
Texas and a handful of states sued the federal government in 2018 over the program that lets certain immigrants work legally.
MALDEF hopes Tuesday’s hearing will persuade the judge to throw the case out. Saenz said Texas and its allies have not proved they’ve been hurt by the existence of DACA.
“In actuality, every one of these states benefits from the continued implementation of DACA,” said Saenz.
DACA has given the states workers — many with high levels of education — who contribute to the economy, he said.
