On May 1, 2018, Texas and six other states filed suit against the Administration, seeking an injunction and a decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Unlike the four other previous lawsuits about DACA that have resulted in three decisions finding the Administration’s September 5, 2017 rescission of DACA unlawful, this most recent suit alleges that the DACA program itself is unconstitutional. It seeks to block the processing of any initial or renewal DACA applications, a result which would contravene two prior federal court orders requiring the Government to continue processing DACA renewal applications, and the most recent decision that may ultimately require resumption of processing of new, initial, DACA applications.
Texas’s Attorney General has been a long-time outspoken opponent of DACA, and his threat to sue if the Administration did not end the program by September 5, 2017 was a stated rationale for the Administration’s decision to do just that. Texas’s new lawsuit heightens the likelihood of conflicting federal court decisions that will land the DACA litigation in the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the lives of DACA/Dreamers are in limbo, with no certainty about their ability to remain in the U.S. as five separate cases wend their way through the federal courts. This issue should be solved by Congress, not the courts.
With overwhelming public support for a path to permanent status for DACA/Dreamers, and with the country’s shrinking pool of workers as “Baby Boomer” retire, Congress should act urgently to ensure that these young adults who have lived most of their lives in the U.S. can remain here to contribute to their communities and the U.S. economy permanently.