Judge Says New DACA Applications Must Be Accepted By the Trump Administration

As President Trump heads out of the White House with his head down, his administration has been hit with another blow. A judge ruled that the Trump administration give the public notice that new applications for the Obama-era program protecting undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children from deportation will begin to be accepted.

Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis’ issued the order on Friday, which builds off his November ruling that found Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf was not legally serving in his role when he signed rules that placed limitations on incoming applications and renewals for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Trump and his administration sought to terminate the plan in 2017. Luckily the US Supreme Court intervened. Still, Wolf put out a memo this summer saying new applications for the program would be rejected and renewals would have a one-year cap instead of two, CNN reported.

“Immigrant youth have resisted this cruel administration’s continuous attacks, and once more, we have won,” said Johana Larios, a plaintiff in the suit. “Now, first-time applicants like me will be able to have access to the DACA program, and current recipients will be able to breathe a little easier as DACA is restored to its original form. I am now able to look forward to returning to school and feel safe that I won’t be separated from my community.”

Now the Trump administration must publicly and promptly put up the public notice. “DHS is DIRECTED to post a public notice, within 3 calendar days of this Order, to be displayed prominently on its website and on the websites of all other relevant agencies, that it is accepting first-time requests for consideration of deferred action under DACA, renewal requests, and advance parole requests, based on the terms of the DACA program prior to September 5, 2017, and in accordance with this court’s Memorandum & Order of November 14, 2020,” Garaufis wrote.

The judge also ordered that Wolf’s memo of the new but now old DACA rules be vacated.

About Crystal Gross

A college graduate. Crystal is a paralegal working on her Masters Degree.

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