On April 24 Federal Court Judge John Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the Trump administration’s reasoning for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
DACA is a program put in place during the Obama administration.
The program allowed immigrants who met certain requirements immunity from deportations. It also allowed for the issuing of work permits.
In a lengthy 60-page ruling Judge John Bates concluded that the ending of DACA was “arbitrary” and “capricious,” as well as the Department of Homeland Security, failed to give adequate reasoning for the ending of the program.
The court has given the Trump administration approximately 90 days for them to challenge the ruling.
If the administration fails to make a compelling argument for the ending of DACA the court will reinstate DACA to its full status prior to its revocation.
President Donald J. Trump made a vow to end the program during his campaign and in September made the announcement that the program would come to an end on March 5. During the three-day government shutdown back in January, the
Supreme Court decided not to fast-track the legal battle DACA would entail.
As a result, the courts allowed for renewal for current DACA recipients.
With the most recent ruling, the courts have allowed new applications for the DACA program within the 90-day window.
This has given local citizens a temporary sigh of relief.
Stockton local Hector Guzman Jr. expressed relief to a new ruling in an interview translated from Spanish.
“My DACA renewal just recently went through so I’m extremely overjoyed, and my cousin is currently in the process of applying for hers,” said Guzman.
Maira Johnson, a Sacramento resident, said how important DACA is to her bottom line.
“My husband Manuel isn’t a U.S. citizen, so we depend on DACA to not have to worry on about my husband getting deported. I’m currently a full-time student at Sac State and my husband works full time so financially we depend on DACA,” said Johnson.
Delta College has resources for undocumented students here on campus.
On Friday, May 11, Stockton will host the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation that will provide free legal consultation for DACA students from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
