Immigration

DACA Applications Are Open Again

Written by SK Ashby

A federal judge recently struck down's Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, in part, because Trump himself tweeted support for the program.

The White House condemned the ruling, of course, but USCIS announced over the weekend that DREAMers may once again apply for deferred action.

(Reuters) - U.S. immigration authorities said on Saturday that it will resume accepting requests under a program that shields young people brought to the United States illegally from deportation after a court order blocked a government decision to end the program.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said on its website that people who previously received a grant of protection under the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) may apply for a renewal under the terms in place before it was rescinded in September.

While the White House did attack the ruling, they did not immediately appeal it. Today is Monday and, as far as we know, the Trump regime still has not filed an appeal.

Lack of action by the White House more or less forced USCIS to follow the court's ruling and begin accepting applications again.

I think it's widely understood, even inside the White House, that Trump's brash decision to rescind DACA was a big mistake. You may recall that Trump's decision was heavily influenced by a handful of senators, Republican state governments, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions who claimed the Obama-era program was unconstitutional and that it must be authorized by Congress.

That's obviously not true -- it has never been ruled unconstitutional -- and our Republican-controlled Congress can barely even wipe their own asses and keep the government running.

I believe Congress should codify DACA into law, among many other things, but I also wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Congress (and the White House) uses this court ruling to pretend Trump never rescinded the program and go about their regular business of doing nothing.