DACA, an Obama-era program that temporarily protects young immigrants from deportation, is facing another legal challenge, The Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the Journal, Texas and eight other GOP-led states will ask a federal court Tuesday to deem the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program unlawful.
The Trump administration tried to end the program back in 2017, but faced legal hurdles. This summer, the Supreme Court determined the Trump administration did not follow proper protocol to end the program.
Texas filed its legal suit against DACA in 2018. The Journal reports the case was put on hold as other lawsuits attempting to stop the Trump administration from ending the program made their way through the courts.
Texas will allege the program is an overreach of presidential power and is costing the state money for such things as providing DACA recipients driver's licenses.
"The policy merits of immigration laws are debated in and decided by Congress," Texas wrote in its initial complaint. "The executive branch does not exercise a lawmaking role."
Before Obama created the program in 2012, a bill named the Dream Act, which would have provided the young immigrants a path to citizenship, failed to pass Congress in 2010.
Some legal observers note the judge assigned to the case, U.S. Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas, has already signaled how he will rule. He declined to end DACA Texas filed its suit, but he wrote in a preliminary opinion that Texas was likely to ultimately win the suit.
According to the outlet, if the judge strikes DACA down, the decision could be appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Biden has pledged to reinstate the program and send out a bill outlining comprehensive immigration reform to Congress within his first 100 days in office.
Marisa Herman ✉
Marisa Herman, a Newsmax senior reporter, focuses on major and investigative stories. A University of Florida graduate, she has more than a decade of experience as a reporter for newspapers, magazines, and websites.
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