On Thursday, Oct. 10, attorneys who represent immigrants called “Dreamers,” protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, defended it before a federal court. Now, federal judges will decide the program’s fate.
DACA shields immigrants who came into the United States as children and don’t have permanent legal status or a path to citizenship. The program was meant to be temporary during the Obama administration.
But 12 years later, the program is still going, despite legal battles. Over the last six years, Texas and eight other Republican-led states that oppose the policy have sought to end it in court.
The Biden administration has tried to turn DACA into federal regulation. Their attempts have been in hopes of increasing the program’s chances of surviving legal challenges in the future.
It was first challenged in 2018, when the nine Republican-led states enacted their lawsuit after then-President Donald Trump’s efforts to terminate DACA failed. A Supreme Court ruling kept the program in place.
It could take weeks or months for a new federal ruling, which could lead to the fate of DACA being left to the incoming administration. Vice President Kamala Harris has been supportive of the initiative.
There were roughly 535,000 immigrants enrolled in DACA at the end of June, according to government data.
