Trump administration could process new DACA applications after Texas’ lawsuit paused enrollment

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After a four-year hiatus, immigration officials could resume processing new applications for the Obama-era immigration program known as DACA, which protects qualifying immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation.

The lift on reviewing new applications was outlined in a court filing late Monday by the Trump administration as part of a years-long legal battle over the legality of DACA in a federal court in Brownsville.

The proposal will still need to be approved by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, a George W. Bush appointee who initially ruled that DACA was illegal in 2021.

On Wednesday, Department of Justice lawyers filed a court document saying that, because of the current federal shutdown, there is no funding to pay lawyers working on this case, adding that DOJ "attorneys are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in minimal circumstances," the court filing says. The DOJ asked Hanen to postpone scheduled deadlines in the case until Congress funds government agencies.

Hanen agreed to postpone court proceedings.

Even if Hanen accepts the DACA proposal, the lawsuit would continue and the program could still end altogether when the lawsuit is finally settled.

Still, to comply with the appeals court ruling, the Trump administration’s proposal to process new DACA applications will apply to all 49 states, while Texas residents will get a watered-down version of the program.

As part of the proposal, potential DACA enrollees will get deportation protection and a two-year work permit. But those in Texas will only get protection from deportation, without a work permit, according to the court filings. And any current DACA recipient who moves to Texas could be stripped of their work permit.

In 2018, Texas sued the Trump administration to scrap the program officially called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, arguing that the program is illegal.

After years of back-and-forth in federal courts, Hanen ruled that the program was illegal. However, his order allowed DACA recipients to continue renewing, while halting enrollment for new applicants.

However, in January, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a mixed decision, ruling that the federal government can legally protect immigrants from deportation, but that the two-year work permit is most likely illegal. The order, however, was narrowed to Texas, the leading state suing to scrap the program.

There are currently more than half a million immigrants enrolled in DACA and more than 89,000 reside in Texas, the state with the second-largest share of DACA recipients after California.

The Obama administration created the program in 2012, following Congress' repeated failure to pass a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s immigration laws that would allow people to apply to legalize their status and eventually qualify for U.S. citizenship. The program was also created in response to intense pressure from immigrant advocates who had pleaded with President Obama to grant legal status to immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

Thirteen years after its creation, Congress has not overhauled the nation’s immigration laws and the Trump administration has prioritized cracking down on undocumented immigrants during his second term, including targeting DACA recipients.

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