Judge rejects Republican plan to end child migrant programme

DONALD TRUMP’S efforts to end an Obama- era programme for young migrants brought to the US as children was dealt a blow on Saturday when a federal judge in New York ruled that efforts to suspend it were invalid.

Judge Nicholas Garaufis wrote that Chad Wolf, the acting secretary for the department of homeland security ( DHS), had unlawfully assumed his position, because the DHS did not follow the legitimate order of succession when he was promoted to the role.

In July, Mr Wolf issued a memo saying that new applications for DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, would not be accepted and renewals would be limited to one year instead of two. Mr Garaufis ruled that Mr Wolf had no authority to issue the ruling, and struck down his plan.

“DHS failed to follow the order of succession as it was lawfully designated,” he wrote. “Therefore, the actions taken by purported acting secretaries, who were not properly in their roles according to the lawful order of succession, were taken without legal authority.” Mr Wolf ’s appointment has not been confirmed by the Senate, which is causing headaches for the administration.

Mr Garaufis said that they will now hold court conferences to work out details of his ruling. The Trump administration can appeal.

An estimated 800,000 young people known as “Dreamers” are currently beneficiaries of the scheme, introduced by Barack Obama by executive order in 2012.

Mr Obama’s critics argue that, because it did not receive congressional approval, it is an illegitimate policy that encourages illegal immigration.

Supporters of the scheme insist it is a way of enabling educated, lawful young people to work and pay taxes. Those applicable were brought into the country illegally by their parents, when they were under the age of 16. They must be under the age of 31 by June 15 2012, when the policy went into effect. And, to qualify, they must be in school, have a high school diploma, or be in the military, and without any criminal convictions.

Their status is renewed every two years. Karen Tumlin, an attorney who represented a plaintiff in one of two lawsuits that challenged Mr Wolf ’s authority, called the ruling “another win for DACA recipients, and those who have been waiting years to apply for the programme for the first time”.

The National Immigration Law Centre responded to the ruling on Twitter: “Victory!”

The DHS did not i mmediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. The department has maintained that Mr Wolf ’s appointment was legal even without Senate confirmation.

President-elect Joe Biden plans to reinstate DACA and is expected to use executive orders to reverse some of Mr Trump’s other immigration actions.

‘The actions taken by purported acting secretaries ... were taken without legal authority’