Justice Department declines to defend DACA in Texas-led lawsuit

The Justice Department late Friday night responded to Texas’ request for an injunction in its challenge of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, agreeing with the state and several others that the program is “unlawful.”

Texas and six other states are suing the federal government to dismantle the immigration policy, which was put in place by the Obama administration in 2012. It enables individuals who were brought to the United States illegally as children to remain in the country without fear of deportation and grants them work permits.

While the Justice Department on Friday called the program “an open-ended circumvention of immigration laws,” it requested a delay if an injunction is issued. If ordered, the government argues, such an injunction would conflict with separate nationwide injunctions that have already been issued by courts in California and New York, and subject the agency to “inconsistent obligations.”

The lawsuit, which was filed last month, asserts that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has the authority to “immediately rescind and cancel all DACA permits currently in existence because they are unlawful.” It also asks that the court block the United States “from issuing or renewing DACA permits in the future, effectively phasing out the program within two years.”