Ruling awaited on revised DACA challenge

HOUSTON — A federal judge did not make an immediate decision Thursday on the fate of a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

During a court hearing, attorneys representing the nine states that have sued to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program argued the updated policy is essentially the same as the 2012 memo that first created it and asked U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen to again find the program illegal.

In 2021, Hanen declared DACA illegal, ruling that the program had not been subjected to public notice and comment periods required under the federal Administrative Procedures Act. Hanen also said the states seeking to stop it had standing to file their lawsuit because they had been harmed by the program.

“Every aspect of this program is ... unlawful,” said Ryan Walters, with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which is representing the states that filed the lawsuit. The states have also argued that the White House overstepped its authority by granting immigration benefits that are for Congress to decide.

The states — Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas and Mississippi — have claimed they incur hundreds of millions of dollars in health care, education and other costs when immigrants are allowed to remain in the country illegally.

Lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department, DACA recipients and the state of New Jersey argued during the hearing the states have failed to present any evidence that any of the costs they allege they have incurred because of illegal immigration have been tied to DACA recipients. They also argued Congress has given the Department of Homeland Security the legal authority to set immigration enforcement policies.

But the lawyers arguing for DACA, acknowledging that Hanen could again rule against them, also asked Hanen to not completely end the program if that’s what he would ultimately decide to do. They instead asked Hanen to only end those parts of the program he would deem as illegal. Lawyers for the states asked that the entire program be shut down within a four-year period after a final ruling.

Texas and the other states filed their lawsuit because they disagree with immigration policy and not because of concerns over the implementation of laws, said Nina Perales, with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, who spoke before Hanen on behalf of DACA recipients.

“We will rule on this as expeditiously as we can,” said Hanen, who was appointed by thenpresident George W. Bush in 2002.

Whatever decision Hanen makes is expected to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court for a third time.

Ahead of the hearing on Thursday morning, more than 50 people gathered at a park near the courthouse to show their support for DACA.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services show 580,310 people enrolled in DACA at the end of December.