DACA's future rests with 3 Louisiana judges. These are the legal arguments
Download mp3 (11.97 MB)When President Barack Obama introduced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012, it was a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of young people who were brought to the country illegally as children, so-called “Dreamers.”
But for many of the years since, it has been in legal limbo — challenged in the courts, thrown out by the Trump administration — but so far, it’s survived.
Now, the future of the program known as DACA lies in the hands of an appeals court panel of judges in New Orleans.
Earlier this month, the three-judge panel heard appeals by the Biden administration, left-leaning states and some DACA recipients who are attempting to keep it alive after a district court judge ruled it unlawful last year.
Since that decision, the Department of Homeland Security has been able to renew DACA permits for people already enrolled in the program, but anyone who has applied in that time has been stuck in a state of limbo as the department is now barred from accepting any new applications.
The current challenge centers around the legality of the program and is being watched closely by the more than 600,000 DACA recipients in the country.
Lynn Marcus is a University of Arizona law professor and director of their Immigration Law Clinic.
The Show spoke with her about the legal twists and turns this case has taken, and what could happen next.
