NBC News by Josh Lederman and Julia Ainsley 9/29/2022
The administration is bracing for a likely court ruling that would end the program, which has shielded more than 600,000 immigrants from deportation.The White House is preparing to take executive action to protect hundreds of thousands of immigrants known as “Dreamers,” people close to the White House told NBC News, as the Biden administration braces for a potential court defeat that could end the decade-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Planning has intensified in recent days ahead of a decision on the program’s future from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, possibly within days. At stake is the ability of more than 600,000 people protected under the program, known as DACA, to continue living and working in the U.S. without fear of deportation. The conservative panel of judges is all but certain to rule that DACA is illegal. Although the Biden administration is likely to appeal the order, the Supreme Court has indicated it would agree with a 5th Circuit ruling that ends the Obama-era program.
With few options to act on its own, the Biden administration is readying steps that could continue to shield from deportation — at least temporarily — immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children but lack legal status and were granted protections under the DACA program.
The order would direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deprioritize deporting DACA recipients and refrain from deporting them if they aren’t deemed threats to public safety or national security.
But the order could easily be reversed by another administration. When the Supreme Court ruled in 2020 to prevent the Trump administration from ending DACA, the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, said the Trump administration had gone about ending the program the wrong way. Legal experts believe the court, now more conservative, will ultimately rule that DACA itself is illegal, particularly because it allows for work authorization for undocumented migrants.
More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-white-house-preparing-take-executive-action-protect-daca-dreamer-rcna49864
