WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that a program that protects nearly 600,000 young immigrants from deportation is illegal but allowed those already registered to renew their status — essentially keeping the status of the program unchanged but its future uncertain.
The decision by the three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit — one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the nation — upheld a 2021 lower court ruling. The Biden administration will have to continue its legal fight to enroll new applicants in the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
Judges returned the case to federal court for the District of Houston to review a new administrative policy issued in August to protect the program. The new regulations were due to come into force at the end of the month.
Wednesday’s ruling was the latest in a series of court rulings and administrative actions that over the years have reversed, reinstated or reversed elements of the DACA program. It had long seemed likely that the case would eventually go to the Supreme Court.
Immigration advocates said the decision indicated DACA’s only chance of surviving was for Congress to pass legislation to protect young immigrants, something it has been unable to do in more than two decades.
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“This decision makes it 100% clear that the options to preserve DACA in court are diminishing and are virtually non-existent at this point,” said Jess Hanson, attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. “We really need Congress to step up.”
Democrats have been trying to preserve the Obama-era agenda for years.
Former President Barack Obama created DACA through executive action in 2012 after years of inaction in Congress to provide permanent protection to immigrants who were brought to the country as children, a group called “Dreamers”.
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This was an interim measure to protect hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation. Protection lasts for two years at a time and is renewable, but it does not offer a path to citizenship.
Immigrants in the DACA program are on average about 26 years old, with the oldest approaching 40. Most were brought into the country from Mexico; others were born in other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Many DACA recipients have been able to raise families, buy homes, and hold jobs in their fields of study, but their status has been precarious for years.
In June 2020, the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration’s decision to end the program. The court, however, did not rule on whether the program was lawfully adopted. One of Mr. Biden’s first actions in office was to bolster the DACA program. But the 2021 Texas court ruling renewed the uncertainty surrounding it.
On Wednesday, the judges wrote that while they agree with the lower court that the DACA program is not legal, they “also recognize that DACA has had profound meaning for recipients and many d others in the 10 years since its adoption”.
The Justice Department was working with the Department of Homeland Security on a response to the ruling.
“I am deeply disappointed with today’s decision by DACA and the continued uncertainty it creates for families and communities across the country,” Secretary of Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said Wednesday evening. interior. “I urge Congress to quickly pass legislation to provide permanent protection for the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who call the United States home.”
The Democratic-led Congress is running out of time to find a long-term solution, especially if Republicans regain control of the House in the November 8 midterm elections.