Some undocumented immigrants should again be allowed to apply for DACA protections, federal judge rules – By Julian Aguilar (Texas Tribune) / Dec 4 2020
Immigrant rights groups cheered the ruling, which could reopen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants in Texas.
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EL PASO — Tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants in Texas could be eligible for protections offered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program after a federal judge ordered Friday the program must revert to its 2017 status.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis ordered that the Department of Homeland Security must post a public notice stating the department will again process applications for the program for potential first-time enrollees.
The 2012 program was open to undocumented immigrants who came to the country before they were 16 and who were 30 or younger as of June 2012. As of March, about 106,000 DACA recipients lived in Texas, and another 86,000 were potentially eligible to apply, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Friday’s order follows last month’s ruling that acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf wasn’t appointed to the position according to DHS guidelines, rendering a July memo issued on the DACA program invalid. In that memo, DACA protections, which also include a renewable two-year work permit, were slashed to one year. He also excluded new applicants from applying. That came despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that the administration didn’t properly halt the program when it announced it was phasing it out more than three years ago.
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