Dreamers Seek to Keep DACA Alive in Court As Republicans go on Offense

Attorneys representing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, also known as Dreamers, defended the program's legality before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans this week as the program faces continued legal challenges. The court's decision will be pivotal in determining the future of DACA, which has been locked in a six-year legal battle.

DACA, an Obama-era program established in 2012, allows eligible young adults who came to the U.S. as children but lack legal immigration status to work and study without fear of deportation. Since its inception, DACA has protected hundreds of thousands of individuals, but Republican-led states, including Texas, have been challenging its legality. These states argue that the program imposes financial burdens on them by requiring resources to support DACA recipients.

Nina Perales, an attorney representing DACA recipients and vice president of litigation at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, argued that Texas and other states have failed to prove they have been harmed by the program. Perales also urged the appellate judges to dismiss the case on the grounds that Texas lacks the legal standing to sue.

The court could dismiss the case, send it back to a lower court, or rule against DACA, which would likely prompt an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The uncertainty surrounding the case has left current DACA recipients in limbo, and potential new applicants (about 400,000) continue to be barred from applying.

Many DACA recipients have lived in the U.S. for most of their lives. According to United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country, the average DACA recipient is in their 30s and has been in the U.S. for more than 16 years. Nearly half are married, and many have U.S.-born children.

Despite the program's benefits, legal challenges have restricted its expansion. A federal judge in Texas has ruled DACA illegal multiple times but has not fully terminated it. Under the most recent ruling, only current DACA recipients or those whose status expired within the past year can renew their protections every two years.

Former President Donald Trump has anticipated that, should he win the upcoming presidential elections, he will terminate the program. Kamala Harris has not been clear about her stance in an eventual administration.

Back in 2019, while running for the Democratic candidacy that eventually went to Biden, she pledged to provide a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers, which are undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents as children.

However, according to Axios, she now appears to be distancing herself from that promise, as the news site reports she has refused to publicly endorse the policy and her campaign declined to answer questions on the matter, offering only the following comment via a Ian Sams, a spokesperson:

"The vice president has fought for Dreamers throughout her career and is proud of the actions taken under her and President Biden to expand protections for them, including the executive action President Biden took this year, which she supported."