On Tuesday a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from ending an Obama-era program that shielded from deportation young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children. What happens next for the Dreamers – and how does it affect Donald Trump’s negotiations with Congress on the future of immigration?
What happened?
District Judge William Alsup ruled late on Tuesday that the Trump administration must “maintain the Daca [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] program on a nationwide basis”, while courts decide how to ultimately rule on the president’s order.
Daca was established by the Obama administration in 2012, after Congress repeatedly failed to enact legislation that would protect these young immigrants – known as Dreamers – from deportation. The program has allowed nearly 800,000 young immigrants to work and go to school in the US without fear of deportation.
The US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, rescinded the program in September, saying the Obama administration’s actions were unconstitutional and an overreach of executive authority. The administration gave Congress a six-month deadline, until 5 March, to find a legislative solution.
If Congress fails to act by 5 March, Daca recipients would lose their legal status and could face deportation to countries that they left as children and hardly know.
How did Trump respond?
Trump, predictably, was not pleased with the ruling and expressed his discontent on Twitter.
“It just shows everyone how broken and unfair our Court System is when the opposing side in a case (such as DACA) always runs to the 9th Circuit and almost always wins before being reversed by higher courts,” he said on Twitter.
The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, said the decision was “outrageous, especially in light of the president’s successful bipartisan meeting with House and Senate members at the White House on the same day”.
What happens next?
In response to the ruling, the administration signaled that it would appeal, a step that could take the case all the way to the US supreme court.
“The justice department will continue to vigorously defend this position, and looks forward to vindicating its position in further litigation,” said Devin O’Malley, a spokesman for the justice department.
Further legal action injects another layer of uncertainty into the fate of the Dreamers if the future of the program is tied up in court for weeks or even months.
What does this mean for Dreamers?
In his ruling, Alsup ordered the Trump administration to restart the program, allowing Daca recipients who already qualify for the program to submit applications for renewal.
However, he said the federal government did not have to process new applications from people who had not previously received protection under the program.
When the Trump administration ended the Daca program, it allowed Daca recipients whose legal status expired on or before 5 March to renew their legal status. Roughly 22,000 recipients failed to successfully renew their legal status for various reasons.
Legal experts and immigration advocates are advising Daca recipients not to file for renewal until the administration provides more information about how it intends to comply with the ruling.
“These next days and weeks are going to create a lot of confusion on the legal front,” said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, which has filed a separate lawsuit against the Trump administration’s termination of Daca.
How does this affect the current immigration negotiations?
Democrats and Republicans in Congress are currently engaged in an intense negotiation over an immigration compromise that would include a legislative solution for Dreamers.
On Tuesday, Democrats and Republicans said they were optimistic that an agreement was possible after a televised meeting with the president to discuss immigration. Trump, who has expressed sympathy for the Dreamers, called on lawmakers to draft a “bill of love” that would offer these young immigrants a pathway to citizenship. He also repeated his demands for a border wall, though Republicans said he conceded that the barrier would not stretch from “sea to shining sea”.
He also wants changes to the legal immigration system, including an end to a family-based immigration policy and the state department’s diversity visa lottery program.
After Tuesday night’s ruling, lawmakers and administration officials appeared to agree that the ruling did not diminish the need for immediate action on Daca. Yet the decision has clearly irritated the president and some administration officials and it is unclear if that will have any effect on negotiations.
“A court case is no guarantee of lasting security,” the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said on Wednesday. “A higher court can quickly overturn it … The fact remains – the only way to guarantee legal status for the Dreamers is to pass Daca protections into law and do it now.”
Additional reporting by Amanda Holpuch
