Victory! Duplicate DACA Ruled Unlawful

September 14, 2023

Texas court stops Biden’s replicant program in its tracks

WASHINGTON—Last evening, a Texas federal district court struck down the Biden administration’s recent duplication of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) had filed a brief in the case showing that duplicate DACA is substantively unlawful.

The original DACA program has been struck down by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in part because it never went through the mandatory notice-and-comment process. In response, Biden issued an exact copy of the original program, and sent it through notice and comment.

But last evening, agreeing with IRLI, the court concluded that duplicate DACA was just as unlawful substantively as the original program. The court roundly declared that the administration’s replication and continuation of DACA after Congress had refused to enact a similar program was the “epitome of the Executive seizing the power of the Legislature.”

Following the decision, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, said that he was “deeply disappointed in the ruling,” and vowed to petition Congress to make a law more to his liking.

“As the court made clear, it is Congress, not the executive, that has the constitutional authority to admit aliens or legalize illegal aliens,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. “Congress has repeatedly refused to legalize DACA recipients, and we are pleased that the court did not allow the administration to violate the Constitution by making the laws itself.”

The case is Texas v. United States, No. 1:18-cv-00068 (S.D. Tex.).