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If you combined a lack of a moral compass, nativism, a penchant for fraud and threw a cowboy hat on it, you’d get Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is now suing to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, in yet another attempt to leave hundreds of thousands of young immigrants without work permits, driver’s licenses and at risk of deportation.
“Our lawsuit is about the rule of law, not the wisdom of any particular immigration policy,” Paxton claimed this week. “Left intact, DACA sets a dangerous precedent by giving the executive branch sweeping authority to ignore the laws enacted by Congress and change our nation’s immigration laws to suit a president’s own policy preferences.”
One problem here is that Paxton doesn’t give a shit about the rule of law. If he did, he wouldn’t be facing 99 years in prison if found guilty of the three felony charges he’s facing for allegedly violating state securities laws. Paxton is in a lot of trouble, and you’d think that someone potentially facing the rest of their life behind bars would resign to spend their time in church, their lawyer’s office or both.
But Paxton also really dislikes immigrants, and for the past few years, deporting immigrant youth has been his cause. Just months after Donald Trump’s inauguration, Paxton and a handful of other Republican-led states threatened to sue unless Trump finished off DACA. Trump announced DACA’s end in September, and Paxton backed off. Mission accomplished. Or so he thought.
As recently as a few weeks ago, a number of courts have partially resurrected the program, with one judge recently ruling that the Trump administration unlawfully terminated DACA on “virtually unexplained” grounds. While new applicants can’t enroll, current DACA recipients can renew their protections and live with some peace of mind. But Paxton just can’t have that, so now he’s made good on his threat to sue.
Paxton’s true motives—“political attacks and crushed futures”—have always been blatantly obvious. “While Paxton has feigned a lack of interest in deporting current DACA recipients,” according to the Center for New Community, Texas led some two dozen Republican-led states in the political attack on Barack Obama’s 2014 immigration action, which would have expanded DACA and have protected millions of undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
In that litigation, Texas window-shopped for just the right judge, ending up with Andrew Hanen, who already had a history of opposing Obama’s policies. Perfect, for Paxton. “As expected Hanen dutifully blocked the president’s executive actions hours before they were set to begin going into effect,” America’s Voice noted, crushing the hopes of millions. And, wouldn’t you know it, Paxton has gone back to Hanen, though now with only six other states on his side (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia). Seems attacking DACA isn’t as politically advantageous as it once was.
Now the question is, especially for DACA enrollees, is what happens next? According to the National Immigration Law Center, the “news out of Texas DOES NOT change the two court orders, via California and New York, allowing existing DACA recipients to renew their protected status.” Karen Tumlin, the group’s legal director, said that her “message to those considering renewing DACA” is that “this lawsuit changes nothing in your calculus. Talk to a legal provider, see if renewal is right for you.” United We Dream has information here.
Of course, none of this would be a worry had the Republican-led Congress passed permanent protections for undocumented youth in the form of the bipartisan Dream Act, and Paxton’s latest political stunt disguised as a lawsuit highlights the urgency to protect Dreamers now. They deserve better than to keep having to live their lives from court proceeding to court proceeding—that’s securities-fraud-challenged Paxton’s life, not theirs.
“Ken Paxton is doing everything he can to keep Dreamers living in fear of deportation to countries that they barely remember,” said Mario Carrillo, Texas director of America’s Voice. “The vast majority of Americans, including most Texans, want young immigrants to stay and have demanded Congress pass a permanent solution. Paxton’s anti-immigrant political attacks aren’t about the rule of law but rather about crushing the futures of Texans whose only desire is to continue contributing to the state and the country they call home.”
