DACA’s Still Alive—For Now

In a surprise move, on August 31 Judge Andrew S. Hanen, a U.S. district judge in Texas, denied a request by Texas and nine other states for a preliminary injunction to block Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications and renewals. However, Judge Hanen made it clear in his 117-page ruling that he opposed DACA on legal grounds, as he did in the past with a DACA expansion and Deferred Action for Parents of American (DAPA).

Photo: David Bacon

Observers had expected Hanen to grant the injunction. This would have brought him into conflict district judges in California, DC, and New York who issued injunctions supporting DACA, probably forcing the Supreme Court to take up the issue in the near future. Now it’s more likely—although not certain--that the issue will remain open until some time next year, giving DACA activists as many as nine months to campaign for a legislative fix.

Read United We Dream’s advice about Judge Hanen’s ruling:

1. DACA Renewals are still open: That’s the good news, Judge Hanen’s rejection of  Texas’ request means that Texas lost and DACA renewals are still in place. You should apply to renew your DACA now, if it expires before 2020. Go to http://www.renewmydaca.com/ or http://renuevamidaca.com/ and we’ll walk you through the process.

 2. The fight is not over: In his decision, Judge Hanen confirmed that he believes DACA is unlawful. This is no surprise since he was the one that killed DAPA/DACA+. Texas now has 21 days to appeal Hanen’s decision. We’ve yet to see how Texas will respond. Stay tuned for updates on anything that could impact you!  

3. New applications are NOT being accepted at this moment, and no one knows for sure whether they will be accepted in the future.

Read the full ruling:

https://www.maldef.org/assets/pdf/order_denying_inj.pdf

Read the analysis by Vox’s Dara Lind:

https://www.vox.com/2018/8/31/17806724/daca-injunction-trump-judge-court