A Texas-led case against the DACA program is headed back to court this week

A case brought by Texas and other Republican-led states against DACA is headed to court again this week. The Obama-era program has provided temporary protection from deportation and work permits to some undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

More than 800,000 young people have received protection through DACA. But the program has been under legal threat more often than not in the 12 years it’s been active — and new applicants have been barred for years as a result.

The Trump administration moved to cancel DACA in 2017. Now, the Texas-led suit argues it was illegally created. Greisa Martinez Rosas, executive director of the advocacy group United We Dream Action, says some 300 DACA recipients and supporters will be in New Orleans for the circuit court hearing Thursday morning.

“We will demand that the 5th Circuit judges at all levels, from local, to federal, stand with the majority of Americans who believe that families belong together and overwhelmingly support DACA,” she said.

Those with DACA status currently can still re-apply while the case makes its way through court. But a ruling from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals could put the future of the entire DACA program back into the hands of the Supreme Court for the second time since 2020.

Martinez Rosas said the case is an extension of other GOP plans.

“Project 2025 isn’t some far-off promise of draconian policy proposals, it is here. It’s ideas are being implemented in states like Arizona, Texas, Florida, and in the court in New Orleans,” she said.

She said that includes plans like the one the Trump campaign has outlined for mass deportations. This November, Arizona voters will also decide on whether to enact a ballot initiative allowing local police to carry out immigration-related arrests. A similar measure went into effect earlier this year in Texas.