Biden Continues DACA Program
But what next? Of 'fortifying', Judge Andrew Hanen and amnesty
By Andrew R. Arthur on January 22, 2021
On January 20, President Biden sent a memorandum to the attorney general (AG) and the secretary of DHS "preserving and fortifying" the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Those terms themselves are not defined, and DACA is still (despite the best efforts of the Trump administration) in effect, so it is not clear what, exactly, the memorandum intends to do. Given the fact that there is pending litigation in federal court in Texas to end the program, however, the ultimate question is: "What's next for DACA?"
Very briefly (believe it or not), on June 15, 2012, then-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano established DACA through a memorandum captioned "Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children".
Aliens were eligible for DACA if they had come to the United States before the age of 16; were under the age of 30; had resided in this country for at least five years prior to the date of that memorandum; were in school, had graduated from high school, or were honorably discharged by the armed services; and had not been convicted of certain criminal offenses and did not pose a danger to the national security.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Biden-Continues-DACA-Program
