US judge blocks approval of new DACA applications

A US federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is illegal and blocked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from approving new applications.

What did the judge say?

US District Judge Andrew Hanen has sided with Texas and eight other states seeking an end to the program.

The DACA policy began under former President Barack Obama's administration in 2012. Hanen said the Obama administration did not follow federal administrative rules in implementing the program.

"DHS violated the APA with the creation of DACA and its continued operation," Hanen said, referring to the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).

"To be clear," Hanen said, the ruling does not require the government to take "any immigration, deportation or criminal action against any DACA recipient." 

DACA protects non-citizen residents of the United States who were brought to the country as children from deportation. DACA recipients are often referred to as "Dreamers."

The ruling does not impact those who are already protected from deportation by the DACA program. Nearly 800,000 people are currently protected by DACA. 

How have prominent figures reacted to the ruling?

Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, called the ruling a "terrible decision." 

"The dreams of hundreds of thousands of young people who are contributing to the American economy will be put on hold for no good reason," Castro tweeted. "Congress must pass a pathway to citizenship this year. We can't wait." 

"The stakes have been raised, and futures of hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients hang in the balance," Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman tweeted. "We must move in this Congress to protect DACA and create a path to citizenship for all undocumented people." 

The ruling puts new pressure on President Joe Biden to work with lawmakers to take action on immigration.

Biden has pledged to keep DACA in place and has proposed legislation to give a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million unauthorized migrants in the US.

Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, had attempted to completely dismantle the DACA program during his tenure as president, but was blocked by the Supreme Court from doing so. 

US lawmaker Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona and a staunch Trump supporter, called Friday's ruling a "huge win."

wd/sri (Reuters, AP)