Nine Republican-led states asked a federal judge in Texas on Tuesday to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which would block protections for nearly 600,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, known as “Dreamers.”
Republicans have long argued and litigated against the Obama-era DACA program, which has continued to this day and has allowed “Dreamers” to work and live in the U.S. without fear of deportation. Texas led the coalition of states’ request, according to CBS News.
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The Biden administration released a rule last year to “preserve and fortify” the DACA program, per CNN, but the states on Tuesday called the rule “unlawful.”
The news outlet reported that the case sits before a judge who ruled in July 2021 that the program was unlawful and blocked the government from approving new applications for it. But the order allowed the DACA program to continue for current enrollees while the case is in court, which continues today.
DACA, former President Barack Obama’s signature immigration program, was initially enacted with the intention of it being a temporary measure while lawmakers negotiated a legislative solution for “Dreamers.” In the decade since the program was implemented, most legal efforts against the program have been unsuccessful.
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The other states that joined Texas were reportedly Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas, and Mississippi.
It is unclear whether the judge will agree to block DACA renewals in the future because he has previously expressed concern about disrupting the lives of immigrants enrolled in the program, according to CBS News. His ruling is expected to be issued after April 6, the deadline for parties in the case to submit filings.
