Culture

Federal Judge Invalidates Homeland Security Secretary’s Suspension of DACA

Lead Photo: WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 12: Hundreds of people gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court to rally in support of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program as the court hears arguments about DACA November 12, 2019 in Washington, DC. The court heard arguments in the case that tests the legality of the DACA program, a federal immigration policy that has given protection from deportation to 700,000 people brought to the U.S. as children. The Trump Administration announced the end of the program in 2017. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 12: Hundreds of people gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court to rally in support of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program as the court hears arguments about DACA November 12, 2019 in Washington, DC. The court heard arguments in the case that tests the legality of the DACA program, a federal immigration policy that has given protection from deportation to 700,000 people brought to the U.S. as children. The Trump Administration announced the end of the program in 2017. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Read more

On Saturday (Nov. 14), a federal judge in New York City struck down acting U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf’s suspension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in late July, calling it unlawful.

The U.S. Supreme Court had already ruled the month before that the Trump administration’s decision to rescind DACA in 2017 was illegal. They did, however, acknowledge that the administration “may properly rescind DACA in the future” depending on the “determination of illegality, which may fall to Congress.”

Wolf followed that decision with a memo stating that DACA would be rescinded “after an orderly wind-down process” and when they “facilitate implementation of the specific changes to the DACA policy.”

The problem, according to U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, is that Wolf, who was named to his post in November 2019, did not have the authority to make such a decision since he was not confirmed by the Senate and was only appointed as an “Acting Secretary.”

“DHS failed to follow the order of succession as it was lawfully designated,” wrote Garaufis, according to Politico. “Therefore, the actions taken by purported Acting Secretaries, who were not properly in their roles according to the lawful order of succession, were taken without legal authority.”

Politico reports that the “immediate beneficiaries” of the court’s decision Saturday are immigrants eligible for DACA, who can now apply, and current Dreamers who have not been allowed to leave the U.S. and return without forgoing their DACA status.

“This is an incredible victory for DACA recipients and first-time applicants like me,” said Johana Larios, a plaintiff in the case, in a statement through the National Immigration Law Center. “DACA has opened so many opportunities for hundreds of thousands of youth and now I hope to be able to go through with my application. With DACA, I hope to be able to return to school and feel safe from being separated from my young children.”

Support for current and future DACA recipients was immediate on social media. Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro called Garaufis’ ruling a “great victory.”

 

DACA