Texas federal judge hears DACA case

On Thursday, District Court Judge Andrew Hanen reviewed a policy allowing children who entered the U.S. illegally to stay there. Hanen has already ruled once against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. In 2021, he found the program illegal because the Obama administration did not allow time for the required public notices and comments. A U.S. Court of Appeals upheld his decision in 2022. But in the meantime, the Biden administration changed DACA, and the appeals court ordered Hanen to review the case again.

Why do the states say DACA is illegal now? Seven border states brought the original suit in 2018. Now they will argue that the updated DACA is illegal because it’s the job of Congress to set policy, not the executive branch. The case could be again headed for the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld DACA in 2020 with a vote of 5-4. 

Dig Deeper: Read Addie Offereins’ report in Compassion on the potential end of DACA.