The 453-page rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is set to take effect on Oct. 31 and will codify the Obama-era program, which has been governed by a 2012 memo for a decade, in the Federal Government Regulations code. Since its inception, DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants who arrived in the US as children to live and work legally in the country without fear of deportation. As of March 31, 611,270 immigrants had signed up for DACA, according to government data. While technical in nature, the change announced Wednesday is designed to address some of the Republican-led legal challenges to DACA, which a federal judge in Texas last year closed to new applicants. Unlike the 2012 DHS memo that created DACA, the new regulation underwent a months-long rulemaking process that was open to public comment, steps a federal judge in Texas said the Obama administration should have taken before implement the policy. “Today, we’re taking another step to do everything we can to preserve and strengthen DACA, an extraordinary program that has changed the lives of so many Dreamers,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement to CBS News. “Thanks to DACA, we have been enriched by young people who contribute so much to our communities and our country.” The regulation would maintain long-standing eligibility rules for DACA, which include requirements that applicants prove they arrived in the U.S. by age 16 and before June 2007. studied at a U.S. school or served in the military. and lack a serious criminal record. DACA recipients will continue to be eligible for work authorization under the new rule, as well as be considered “lawfully present” in the U.S. for purposes of other immigration applications. Even with the regulation, however, DACA will remain in legal jeopardy. U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen, who closed DACA to first-time applicants in July 2021, ruled that the policy itself violates federal immigration law, as Texas and other Republican-led states have argued in a lawsuit. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which held a hearing in July on the Biden administration’s appeal of Hanen’s decision, is expected to issue an opinion on the legality of DACA later this year. The conservative appeals court is expected to side with Republican state officials who argue that DACA is illegal. The Biden administration could appeal such a decision to the Supreme Court. The ongoing litigation could keep DACA closed to new applicants and even lead to its complete termination, a scenario that would prevent the program’s beneficiaries from working legally in the U.S. and make them eligible for deportation, though likely not they were a priority for arrest under the Biden administration. Activists listen during a news conference celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) at the US Capitol on June 15, 2022 in Washington, DC. / Getty Images Such an outcome would also reignite legislative efforts to put DACA recipients on a path to US citizenship. Despite bipartisan support for Dreamers, Congress has repeatedly failed to create such a path amid more than 20 years of gridlock over other immigration issues, including U.S. border policy. The failure of Congress to pass these so-called “Dream Act” proposals prompted the Obama administration in 2012 to create DACA, which uses a longstanding immigration policy known as “deferred action” to protect beneficiaries from deportation and make them eligible for a work permit. Former President Donald Trump’s administration sought to end and curtail DACA, calling it illegal. Its efforts, however, were halted by federal courts, including the Supreme Court, which in June 2020 said officials had not followed proper procedures to end the program. A DHS official said the Biden administration will continue to defend DACA against lawsuits. In the event of another negative court ruling, the administration will “evaluate our response and our options for continuing to protect the program,” the official added. In a statement Wednesday, President Biden urged lawmakers to legalize Dreamers, calling them “part of the fabric of this nation.” “I will do everything in my power to protect Dreamers, but Republicans in Congress should stop blocking a bill that provides a path to citizenship for Dreamers,” Mr. Biden said. “It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do for our economy and our communities.” A recent poll by the liberal group Immigration Hub and Hart Research polling found that 65 percent of voters polled in states with competitive congressional elections in November would like Congress to grant relief to DACA recipients if the program is overturned. About 80% of DACA recipients were born in Mexico, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) statistics show. Immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, South Korea, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina make up the other top 10 nationalities enrolled in the program. Nearly 70 percent of the 611,270 immigrants who signed up for DACA as of March 31 were 30 or younger, including 17,070 recipients under 21, USCIS data show. Flavia Negrete, a DACA recipient who came to the country as a 4-year-old, expressed her frustration that her fate was dictated by a “chess game” between politicians in Washington, DC. The Maryland resident hopes to go to medical school to study gene therapy, but those plans could be derailed if DACA is shut down. “I don’t want anyone in Congress debating whether I can work tomorrow or whether I can go see a doctor tomorrow,” Negrete told CBS News on Wednesday. “I think those are two things that belong to me, right. And I’d like to own that.” More Camilo Montoya-Galvez Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the immigration reporter for CBS News. Based in Washington, D.C., he covers immigration policy and politics.
