US President Joe Biden has said the Justice Department intends to appeal a federal judge’s ruling deeming illegal a programme that has protected hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation, and renewed his calls for Congress to create a permanent solution.
He said in a statement on Saturday that the decision was “deeply disappointing,” and although the judge’s order did not affect those already covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, it “relegates hundreds of thousands of young immigrants to an uncertain future”.
Texas and eight other states sued to halt DACA, arguing that former President Barack Obama lacked the power to create the programme in 2012 by executive action because it circumvented Congress.
US District Judge Andrew Hanen in Houston agreed, and while his ruling left the programme intact for existing recipients, it barred the government from approving new applications.
Hanen found DACA violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it was created but said that since there are so many people currently enrolled in the programme – nearly 650,000 – his ruling would be temporarily put on hold for their cases and their renewal applications.
