Houston, Texas.- Although a federal judge has declared that a revised version of a federal policy barring the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the United States as children is illegal, he refused to order the immediate end of the program and the protection it provided to the beneficiaries.
According to information from the Associated Press, federal judge Andrew Hanen agreed with Texas and eight other states that filed a lawsuit to stop the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The judge’s ruling is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court, where the highest court will weigh the fate of the program for the third time.
Hanen’s order expands the existing order against DACA, which prohibits the government from approving new applications, but leaves the program intact for people already enrolled in the period. in the current legal review.
Hanen also rejected a request from the states to order the program to end in two years. The judge said his order does not require the federal government to take any action against DACA recipients, known as “dreamers.”
Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which represents DACA recipients in the lawsuit, said it will eventually go to higher courts, including the Supreme Court, which will rule on the legality of DACA and whether Texas can prove that the program caused it harm.
