US judge declares DACA program illegal and suspends new applications, Mexico regrets judge decision

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The Ministry of Foreign Relations will continue to provide protection and consular assistance to the Mexican beneficiaries of the program.

The Government of Mexico regretted the decision of a federal judge in the United States who declared illegal a program that protects migrants who entered the country as children, known as DACA, from deportation.

The judge’s decision prevents the US authorities from accepting new applications but does not affect the hundreds of thousands of people already enrolled in the program.

“With full respect for the internal affairs of the United States, @GobiernoMX regrets the decision of the Federal Court of the Southern District of Texas on the #DACA program,” Roberto Velasco, head of the Unit for America, wrote on his Twitter account. of the North of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Mexico.

The official said that his country would continue to provide protection and consular assistance to Mexican beneficiaries of the program.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen found that the program violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it was created, but said that since there were so many people currently enrolled in the program – nearly 650,000 – his decision would be temporarily suspended for their cases and renewal requests.

“To be clear,” the judge said, the order does not require the government to take “any immigration, deportation, or criminal action against any DACA recipient .”

He said the government could continue to receive new applications for the program, as ordered by a federal judge in a separate case, but could not approve them.

The Biden Administration and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

They urge the US Congress to protect ‘dreamers’ after the ruling on DACA

One of the first to show his support for the so-called Dreamers was the Governor of California, Democrat Gavin Newsom.

Democratic leaders and activist groups criticized the order of a federal judge to suspend the new requests of the Deferred Action program (DACA) and urged Congress to give a stable immigration status to thousands of undocumented young people who arrived in the country as children .

One of the first to show his support for the so-called dreamers was the governor of California, Democrat Gavin Newsom, who said that these young people represent “the best” of what the United States is as a “nation” and, therefore, Congress It must offer them a new immigration system that opens for them “a clear path to citizenship.”

Also from California is Federal Senator Alex Padilla, who this week was confident in the success of the Democratic tactic to try to avoid obstructionism and incorporate access to citizenship this year for millions of immigrants, including the “dreamers” in a general budget law.

“It is more important than ever that Congress act to protect dreamers and provide a path to citizenship,” he said on Twitter.

Padilla is part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), which brings together Democratic congressmen and who after hearing the ruling of Judge Andrew Hanen lamented that the “dreamers” have lived in “limbo for too long” and argued that the Capitol they must pass “permanent protections” for these young people, who should have access, in their opinion, to citizenship.

One of its members of the CHC, the representative for Texas Joaquín Castro, described as “terrible” the decision of Judge Hanen, of the District Court of the South of Texas, who sided with a group of states, led by Texas, that He called for the end of the program on the grounds that it was created illegally by now-former President Barack Obama (2009-2017).

Hanen ordered the government to stop approving new DACA applications, although it does allow it to renew existing ones, considering that “it would not be fair to suddenly end a government program that has created such a remarkable dependency”, and that this has been able to increase over time. of the years.

A request similar to that of the CHC came from the Alliance of Presidents on Higher Education and Immigration, which includes a hundred university presidents from across the nation, who saw Hanen’s ruling as a reminder of the “urgent need” for legislation. to permanently protect “dreamers” from deportation, just as DACA does.

For its part, the Latino group Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) opted for the formula that the Democrats have chosen this week called “reconciliation”, which would allow a simple majority to approve the path to citizenship for protected by DACA, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and undocumented workers considered “essential”.

By ordinary means, at least 10 Republican votes in the Senate would be necessary to approve the different bills that would open a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants, but there are serious doubts that that number can be collected and thus avoid the foreseeable blockade to these measures in the Upper House.

Todd Schulte, chairman of another lobby group, in this case the big tech lobby group, FWD.us, said the ruling is “deeply disappointing” as DACA has transformed “hundreds of thousands of lives,” and urged Congress to act “immediately” to find a stable migration exit for these young people.

“Today he makes it absolutely clear: Only a permanent legislative solution passed by Congress will remove the fear and uncertainty that DACA recipients have been forced to live with for years,” he said. 

Source: forbes.com.mx, aristeguinoticias.com

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