Biden's government has 10 days to defend DACA in a Texas court.
A federal judge in Texas hinted on Tuesday that he has his ruling ready in a lawsuit in which a group of conservative states assures that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA ) program is illegal, but the magistrate has given the opportunity for the Government of President Joe Biden to defend immigration protection.
The fate of DACA will remain on hold until at least April 9, the deadline by which the Biden Administration has to convince Texas Southern District Court Judge Andrew Hanen to rule in favor of the program that protects more than 690 thousand immigrants.
The lawsuit filed in 2018 by a group of conservative states, led by Texas, indicates that this program created in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama is unconstitutional and that the president exceeded his executive powers, so it must be gradually terminated.
Although the legal complaint named the United States Government, the Administration of then President Donald Trump did not want to defend the benefit, so the Mexican American Fund for Legal Education and Defense (MALDEF) assumed the defense of the program on behalf of several “Dreamers” (DACA recipients).
Tuesday's hearing was the first in which the Department of Justice (DOJ) defended the program. Lawyers for the institution told the judge that they would begin administrative "rulemaking" that will make substantial changes to DACA.
Thomas Sáenz , president of MALDEF, highlighted in a press conference after the hearing that the willingness of the Biden Government to defend the program is important to the case.
For its part, Texas argued that the regulation will take the government 4-6 months to implement and that the court should not wait that long to make a decision on whether DACA is legal or not.
In this regard, Saénz, like MALDEF's lawyers, stressed that Texas and the other states waited six years to file the lawsuit, so waiting for "four to six more months should not be a big problem."
Since its inception on January 20, the Democratic Administration has taken steps to protect the benefit. Last Friday, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, said that his department will publish a proposed rule to "preserve and strengthen" this program.
"It is an important step, but only passage of the legislation can provide full protection and a path to citizenship for dreamers who know the United States as home ," Mayorkas said in a statement.
The recent victory in the House of Representatives of the "American Promise and Dream Act" bill, which would provide a path to citizenship for DACA recipients, and a similar bill introduced in the Senate by Democrat Dick Durbin, have been wielded as an advance to solve the claims of the states.
Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at MALDEF, who defended the program today in court, explained that Judge Hanen was informed about the progress of these legislative proposals, which would render the lawsuit baseless.
In this regard, Hanen stressed that "we have counted up to 30 different bills (immigration) that have been introduced and have not been approved."
"Waiting for this to happen is like waiting for a Godot (an unlikely situation)," remarked the judge.
However, Perales believes that today's audience was positive for the defense of the program.
It is an important step, but only passage of the legislation can provide full protection and a path to citizenship for dreamers who know the United States as home ," Mayorkas said in a statement.
The recent victory in the House of Representatives of the "American Promise and Dream Act" bill, which would provide a path to citizenship for DACA recipients, and a similar bill introduced in the Senate by Democrat Dick Durbin, have been wielded as an advance to solve the claims of the states.
Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at MALDEF, who defended the program today in court, explained that Judge Hanen was informed about the progress of these legislative proposals, which would render the lawsuit baseless.
In this regard, Hanen stressed that "we have counted up to 30 different bills (immigration) that have been introduced and have not been approved."
"Waiting for this to happen is like waiting for a Godot (an unlikely situation)," remarked the judge.
However, Perales believes that today's audience was positive for the defense of the program.
It was a positive development because the judge was actively interested in hearing all the different kinds of moves that are going on regarding DACA right now and seemed interested in understanding how a court decision at this point would impact what is happening," he said. .
A Hanen decision in favor of Texas could mark a further limitation on the Biden administration on its ability to maintain or extend the program.
Thomas Sáenz, the president of MALDEF, insisted that "DACA has to be replaced by a legislative approach."
The legal challenge undertaken by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is supported by the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, and West Virginia.