AG asks judge to reinstate DACA program until final court ruling
Congress has until March 5 to salvage the program, which protected an estimated 800,000 undocumented immigrants
Local and state officials who filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program asked a federal judge on Wednesday to reinstate the program until there’s a final court ruling on the lawsuit.
The motion — filed by Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the University of California, Santa Clara County and the city of San Jose, among others — asks the Northern District of California to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration’s rescission of DACA while the trial is pending. It’s the latest in a monthslong battle between the Trump Administration and DACA supporters to determine the future of the controversial program.
“America is and has been home to the Dreamers who courageously came forward and applied for DACA,” said Becerra in a statement Wednesday. “They have done everything our government has asked of them. They followed the rules directed by DACA, they succeeded in school, at work and in business, and they have contributed in building a better America. They epitomize the American Dream.”
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment Wednesday, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Trump announced the end of the program on Sept. 5 and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stopped taking renewal applications in early October. Congress has until March 5 to salvage the Obama-era program, which protected an estimated 800,000 undocumented immigrants who grew up in the U.S. from deportation.
Becerra argued that ending the program has caused irreparable harm to DACA recipients and to the states in which they live. One quarter of DACA recipients nationwide live in California.
“Our Dreamers deserve to know that we respect their values and grit. And they deserve to know that we will fight at every turn for their rights and opportunities so they may continue to contribute to America,” Becerra added.
UC President Janet Napolitano said termination of the program will cause the university system and its students to lose the “vital contributions” that DACA recipients have made as students and employees.
“The civic life of the school will be diminished, the exchange of ideas will be reduced, teaching and research will be impaired, and diversity of viewpoints and experiences will be reduced,” she said in a statement.
The UC system said it has an estimated 4,000 undocumented students across all its campuses, many of whom are DACA recipients.
A court hearing on Becerra’s motion for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for December 20.