Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a win in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed that the Biden administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy is unlawful.
Created in 2012 by the Obama administration, DACA provides illegal aliens who entered the country as children with a renewable two-year work permit and prevents their removal from the country.
On July 15, 2021, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ordered the annulment of the DACA program—which was first created by the 2012 DACA memorandum. This prohibited U.S. departments, agencies, officers, agents, and employees from granting new DACA applications and administering the program.
Hanen’s decision was then affirmed by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which agreed that the DACA memorandum violated the Administrative Procedures Act, and that the program was unlawful. After changes to the program were made by the Biden administration, the case was then handed back to Hanen for further review.
In 2023, Hanen reaffirmed his original decision but stated that the Department of Homeland Security may continue to administer the program—including processing and granting DACA renewal applications—to illegal aliens who received their DACA status before July 16, 2021.
The ruling was appealed and sent back to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where judges once again affirmed Hanen’s decision.
“We largely agree with the district court and thus affirm its judgment, though we modify the remedial order,” the Fifth Circuit’s order read.
Though the court ruled that DACA is unlawful, it limited the injunction against the policy to Texas, stating that it was the only plaintiff to demonstrate an actual injury.
“Because that injury is fully redressable by a geographically limited injunction, we narrow the scope of injunction to Texas,” reads the order. “Though we have previously upheld nationwide injunctions because of the interest of uniformity in immigration laws, the balance of the equities outweighs that interest here.”
Paxton celebrated the win by saying it is time to fix the mess that the Biden administration’s policies have created.
“This is a win for Texas. I am pleased the Fifth Circuit found that the Biden Administration’s DACA policy was unlawful,” said Paxton. “I look forward to working with [President] Donald Trump to ensure that the rule of law is restored, and the illegal immigration crisis is finally stopped. Biden’s policies unleashed historic levels of lawlessness upon this country, and it is time to start fixing the mess the outgoing administration made.”
