The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments this week on a case that could end DACA. That’s the Obama-era program that gives some undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children a work permit and temporary protection from deportation — but no path to citizenship.
More than 200 people showed up in New Orleans on Thursday to hear oral arguments and voice their support for DACA — which began more than a decade ago and has provided protection to some 850,000 people.
The suit filed by, Texas and other GOP-led states, argues DACA causes their states additional healthcare and education costs. In court Thursday, the Biden administration argued the states don't have legal standing to bring their case. And New Jersey — which intervened in the case to defend DACA alongside the Department of Justice — argued the program affects far more people than the roughly 500,000 with the DACA status today — like the children of program recipients.
This is the second DACA case that could end up in the Supreme Court. The high court upheld the program in 2020 after the Trump administration tried to end it. Current recipients can re-apply every two years to renew their DACA status, but the case has barred new applicants from the program barred for years.
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The ruling comes a day after news broke of the government’s plan to offer legal aid to detained immigrant children through a $150 million contract Burke Law Group — a small Texas-based firm with a co-founder who is a former Trump appointee. -
A notice posted on the Federal Register this week details a $150 million government contract with Burke Law Group to represent unaccompanied immigrant children. A multimillion-dollar contact with nonprofits across the country to do the work expired Friday. -
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is supposed to help people during disasters like floods and fires. But a new report finds the Trump administration diverted FEMA staff at key times to do something very different — help ICE in immigration enforcement. -
The DACA program turned 14 this year. The Obama-era initiative is supposed to give some undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children a work permit and temporary protection from deportation. But community members say that’s no longer the case under President Donald Trump. -
Some 20,000 children alone in the US receive legal aid through the contract — part of a federal program established by Congress almost two decades ago. The contract to do that work expires July 31.
