Federal Judge Andrew Hanen ruled on Friday that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program is illegal and ordered the Biden Administration to immediately stop processing new applications. For now, the ruling does not revoke the status of the approximately 616,000 illegal aliens who are protected from deportation and have work permits through DACA.
Judge Hanen ruled that the Department of Homeland Security under the Obama Administration "violated the [Administrative Procedure Act] with the creation of DACA and its continued operation."
"The DACA memorandum and the DACA program it created are hereby vacated and remanded to the DHS for further consideration," Judge Hanen wrote.
Under the ruling, illegal aliens can continue to apply for DACA, but DHS cannot approve new applications while the it's reviewed.
Pres. Obama announced the DACA amnesty program in June of 2012. Pres. Trump attempted to end the program in the fall of 2017, but the Supreme Court struck down Trump's attempt, calling it "arbitrary and capricious." In 2018, legislative efforts by Congress to make DACA permanent failed in both the House and Senate.
Pres. Biden and Congressional Democrats are currently working on a budget reconciliation package that reportedly would include a DACA amnesty. It's too soon to tell if Judge Hanen's decision will impact that effort.
Last week, Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina offered a compromise that tied making DACA permanent to sending additional resources to deal with the ongoing border crisis -- a proposal opposed by NumbersUSA. Senate Democrats rejected the proposal.
