Judge rules "Dreamers" immigrant

program must stay

By Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff on 04.27.18
Word Count 783
Level 910L

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates says the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to rescind the DACA program “was
unlawful and must be set aside.” Photo by: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

SAN DIEGO, California — A judge has ruled that the government must continue a program to
protect young immigrants. However, the government has time to give statements again before the
order takes effect.

President Donald Trump and his team want to end a program protecting many thousands of
young immigrants who were brought into the United States as children. Without the
program, the young people might have to leave the country.

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Setback For Trump

The ruling was made Tuesday, April 24, by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, in Washington,
D.C. It gives 90 days for Trump's team to respond. If the ruling goes ahead, it would be a new
setback for Trump. It would require the government to accept new requests from people who
want to participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

DACA is a program for young people who were brought into the United States without permission.
Many of these young people did not choose to come illegally. Many were brought by their parents
as very young children. DACA gives these people, called "Dreamers," permission to live and work
in the United States. It was created in 2012 by Barack Obama, who was president at the time.

Two nationwide court decisions from earlier this year applied to those who want to continue in
the DACA program. They did not apply to new applicants to the program.

Ending DACA Not Necessarily Legal

Bates said the government's decision in September to end the program was not necessarily legal.
The court decision sided with Princeton University and the NAACP civil rights group. Bates
invited the government's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to try again to provide reasons
for ending the program. He asked for "a fuller explanation" of the government's ideas.

The judge wrote that the government's explanation left out something important. It didn't include
the fact that many of the young people in the DACA program had taken actions based on their
membership in the program. They had gotten jobs and started college, thinking they would be
allowed to continue in DACA.

Challenge From Texas And Other States

Trump's team says that it had to take action because Texas and other states said they would go
to court over DACA.

In January, a court in San Francisco, California, ruled that the government failed to show a need
to end the program. This nationwide ruling forced the government to open the program again. A
court in New York issued a similar ruling in February. A court in Maryland sided with Trump.

Trump's team asked the Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States, to look at the
ruling from San Francisco. This was unusual because the San Francisco court was a U.S. District
Court. When someone in a court case does not like the decision, they can appeal it, meaning a
higher court may hear the case. When a case is appealed from a district court, it goes to an
appeals court. A case only goes to the Supreme Court if the appeals court's decision is
appealed.

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The Supreme Court decided not to allow leapfrogging between the courts. Instead, an appeals
court will hear the case. Experts don't expect a decision until June or later. From there, it is
expected to go to the Supreme Court, which may not rule until the spring of 2019.

In the case decided this week, Trump's team could appeal Bates' ruling immediately. It could also
try again with Bates in the 90-day window he gave. Combining the DACA challenges into a single
case is a possibility, said Stephen Yale-Loehr. He is a professor of immigration law at Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York.

"It's complicated now because you have these different cases," Yale-Loehr said.

Nearly 690,000 people were participating in the DACA program when the government said it was
ending the program. Eight out of 10 DACA participants were from Mexico. To qualify, they had to
have arrived before they turned 16 years old and have been younger than 31 years old in June
2012. They must also have completed high school or served in the military. They could not have a
crime record.

If approved, they would be in the program for two years. Then they would have to apply again.

Many Who Meet Rules Have Never Applied

Yale-Loehr says that tens of thousands of people who meet the rules have never applied for
DACA. He thinks they could benefit from Bates' ruling.

The NAACP and others sued the government in September. Princeton University, joined by the
company Microsoft and a student, followed in November. Bates combined the two cases.

Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber said he was pleased with the decision.

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