Recent revelations exposed that the Department of Homeland Security approved at least nine new DACA applications and advanced dozens of others in violation of a federal judge’s order pausing that exact type of work within the program, DHS officials admitted in court filings this week.
Acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Tracy Renaud, blamed “human error” and cases “already in the system” for the breaches.
The Washington Times reports that Director Renaud said the department has “rushed to claw back the approvals from the Dreamers who were approved in violation of the order, and has halted the applications of 52 other Dreamers who were allowed to submit biometrics for their applications — also a breach of Judge Andrew S. Hanen’s order.”
According to the officials, all of the approvals and advancements took place from July 17 to July 19, immediately following Judge Hanen’s ruling that finally declared the formation of the DACA program illegal.
The department states that they continue to scour their backlogs for any other aliens that may have “slipped through” the cracks but have not found any so far.
“‘The government regrets the error,’ Justice Department lawyers added in their own filing with the judge,” reports The Washington Times.
In his 2021 ruling, Judge Hanen found that President Obama’s administration cut far too many corners in establishing DACA, stating that DACA was a significant policy that should have gone through a complete regulatory process, not an executive order.
NumbersUSA’s Director of Government Relations, Rosemary Jenks, expressed some hesitation in accepting the department’s “human error” explanation, stating:
Both Secretary Mayorkas and Acting Director Renaud are responsible for ensuring that every employee is in compliance with legal rulings. Their failure to do so is not surprising considering their willingness to also ignore laws enacted by Congress.
"USCIS declined to answer questions about the bungle, citing a policy against commenting on matters in court," reports The Washington Times.
This breach in Judge Hanen’s ruling is highly similar to 2015 when Hanen stopped a previous attempt to expand DACA protections from two to three years, but USCIS decided to issue 2,500 three-year grants anyway. DHS scrambled to recall the invalid passes after Judge Hanen demanded then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and his top lieutenants appear personally to answer for the department's “cavalier attitude” towards his ruling.
For the complete story, please visit The Washington Times.
