Justice Department appeals DACA ruling

WASHINGTON—The Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a notice to appeal a federal court ruling blocking a White House action on immigration. A U.S. District Court judge in Northern California blocked the Trump administration’s decision to stop accepting renewals for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last week. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday the department intends to file a petition later this week seeking direct review from the U.S. Supreme Court. “It defies both law and common sense for DACA—an entirely discretionary, non-enforcement policy that was implemented unilaterally by the last administration after Congress rejected similar legislative proposals and courts invalidated the similar DAPA policy—to somehow be mandated nationwide by a single district court in San Francisco,” Sessions said in a statement. Last week’s ruling ordered the Trump administration to resume accepting DACA renewals while courts continue to litigate the issue. The ruling did not allow new immigrants to apply for the program, but beneficiaries can renew their status if they missed the cutoff date after President Donald Trump announced he would rescind DACA last September. Congress is in the middle of negotiating a legislative solution for DACA and other immigration issues. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testified Tuesday she did not believe the president would extend DACA through executive order if Congress failed to pass something by March 5—the date Trump said the program would expire.