The opinion of the last two administrations regarding DACA

The Barack Obama administration, in an attempt to protect young immigrants who are part of the local workforce, implemented an immigration program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, in 2012. This program protects undocumented immigrants from deportation, who crossed the borders of the US when they were minors.

Currently, there are more than 600,000 young immigrants protected by this immigration benefit and they hope to have more legal alternatives to be able to stay in the US and avoid returning to vulnerable environments, where their integrity and safety would possibly be at risk.

Not only does this program protect against deportation, but DACA recipients, or “Dreamers”, can renew it every two years and apply for a work or study permit, as long as they meet mandatory requirements.

However, despite the fact that DACA protects thousands of young foreign workers, the current administration of the US, led by President Donald Trump, has always wanted to remove this program from benefits offered to immigrants in the country. The Trump administration states that offering legal alternatives to undocumented immigrants, regardless of whether they are adults or minors, would only increase and encourage illegal immigration.

Do you need help with an immigration case or need to request your legal documentation in the US? Contact Motion Law Immigration and follow the advice of our experienced attorneys.

DACA’s legal battle might escalate again

In a legal battle that seemed endless, the Trump administration took the DACA case to the US Supreme Court of Justice, which, in June 2020, ruled in favor of the immigration program and rejected Trump’s request to remove it from the local immigration system.

However, despite the Supreme Court verdict, other legal events took place in recent months, which increased the controversy surrounding DACA.

Let’s look at some important facts:

• The Trump administration did not comply with the Supreme Court order and, in late July 2020, stated that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would not receive new DACA applications until further notice and would renew existing permits for one year, instead of two.
• In early December, a federal judge again intervened in the DACA case and ordered the Trump administration to receive new applications and renew existing permits for two years, following guidelines established by the Obama administration. The Trump administration did comply with this order.

Despite the Trump administration’s compliance with the New York judge’s order, the DACA program already had a pending hearing in a Houston court on December 22, 2020. The federal court was going to evaluate DACA’s validity and determine if it meets mandatory requirements to be an immigration benefit, putting thousands of DACA recipients back on the tightrope.

However, it has been two days since the hearing took place and the federal court has not issued its ruling regarding DACA’s validity or whether it can continue to be active as an immigration program.

DACA advocates ask judge to wait until transition period ends

The American population elected Democratic nominee Joe Biden as the 46th president, who will take office on January 20, 2021, and, therefore, the US is going through a transition period.

Since the Houston judge has not released the ruling, DACA advocates are asking the judge to postpone the ruling until Biden takes office and the transition period is over, arguing that it could spark a gigantic controversy and affect the local population.

However, the federal judge did not entirely agree with this request and will most likely release his verdict before the president-elect takes office.

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