COURT RULES
Trump administration must accept new DACA applications.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration must resume accepting new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and comply with a recent Supreme Court ruling, a federal judge ordered Friday.
U.S. District Court Judge Paul W. Grimm of the District of Maryland said his order “restores the DACA policy to its pre-September 5, 2017, status,” a reference to the day the Trump administration announced the president would rescind the program.
Judge Grimm’s ruling comes nearly a month after the Supreme Court ruled that the White House’s effort to end the Obama-era program ran afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act. The high court pointed out that it was not ruling on whether DACA is a sound policy, only whether the government had a reasoned explanation for rescinding it.
DACA has given roughly 700,000 immigrants, unlawfully brought to this country as children, the ability to work and live in the United States without fear of deportation. In its decision, the Supreme Court ordered the government to begin processing new DACA applications. However, immigration attorneys and advocacy groups have complained the Trump administration had failed to do so.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Homeland Security agency responsible for adjudicating immigration benefits and visas, did not immediately respond Friday to a request to comment on the ruling. In an earlier statement, however, the agency blamed technical errors for any rejection notices that went out to first-time DACA application submissions.
“Initial DACA requests rejected after June 19 were rejected due to their being incomplete, most commonly due to a lack of signature, missing or incomplete form pages, or an incorrect fee, which are all standard causes for an application’s rejection,” the agency said in the statement. “Recently, DACA initial rejection notices did not provide the specific standard reason(s) for rejection. USCIS is working to correct future notices.”
A rejection notice the agency sent to a first-time DACA application, obtained by CQ Roll Call, contradicts that statement.
“USCIS is no longer accepting initial requests for Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Form I-821D) and accompanying applications for Employment Authorization (Form I-765) and Form I-765 Worksheets (I-765WS) from individuals who have never been granted deferred action under DACA,” the rejection letter said.
Tamara French, a Detroitbased immigration lawyer with a client whose new DACA application was recently rejected, expressed skepticism about the agency’s official response.
“As a government agency, you’re obligated to follow the final ruling of the Supreme Court. You can’t just not follow it because you don’t like it,” she said.
Friday’s District Court ruling comes after mounting pressure from both Democrats and advocacy groups. More than 30 Senate Democrats earlier this week urged the Trump administration to immediately begin processing new DACA applications.