The finalized rule intended to fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as it faces GOP-led legal attacks went into effect this week, the Biden administration said. While first-time applicants remain unable to apply for work permits and deportation relief due to Republican lawsuits, the rule, which was finalized this past summer, seeks to protect the popular and successful policy as it continues to face the courts.
“While court orders prevent us from adjudicating requests from initial applicants, we will continue to carry on the important work of renewing and continuing protections for current DACA recipients, as outlined in this final rule,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Ur Jaddou said.
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In ruling against the policy last year, Texas Judge Andrew Hanen said that the Obama administration hadn’t gone through proper procedures in creating the policy, which was signed into place by former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Janet Napolitano and began accepting applications in 2012. But the reality is that Hanen has had it out for undocumented immigrants for years.
Still, the Biden administration proposed and finalized a good-faith rule intended to address these concerns. “The final rule’s implementation means that DACA is now based on a formal regulation, thereby preserving and fortifying the program while the program remains the subject of litigation in court,” USCIS and DHS said in a joint statement. They noted they received more than 16,000 comments during the public comment period, many of which came from our Daily Kos community.
“This final rule is our effort to preserve and fortify DACA to the fullest extent possible,” said DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.
But while the Biden administration is accepting applications under the new rule, it can only accept renewals. Hanen has blocked first-time applicants from relief, a position kept in place by a conservative appeals court panel in Louisiana last month. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel then sent the case back to Hanen to consider the new rule, but he unsurprisingly extended his injunction to cover the regulation. The program’s future is grim.
Young immigrants, and their allies, have continued to push the body that can end this legal limbo once and for all: Congress. They’ve been urging action during the lame-duck session. “Right now, Congress needs to cut a bi-partisan deal and pass immigration legislation in 2022, that means averting the weekly loss of 5,000 work authorizations from DACA recipients over the next two years should the program be terminated,” DACA recipients Erika Andiola and Astrid Silva wrote at Univision.
Mayorkas echoed that in his statement. “Ultimately, we need Congress to urgently pass legislation that provides Dreamers with the permanent protection they need and deserve.”
Republicans led by very corrupt Texas attorney general Ken Paxton have sought to use right-wing courts to kill this policy and deport hundreds of thousands of young immigrants in the face of public opinion. Recent Data for Progress polling showed that voters support continuing the policy by a nearly 30-point margin, 58%-31%. They also overwhelmingly favor permanent relief. “By a +32-point margin, voters back a policy to provide DACA recipients the opportunity to gain U.S. citizenship.”
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