US judge rejects protections that aid foreign-born students

An estimated 200,000 undocumented immigrants studying at US campuses face further uncertainty after a judge ruled protections brought in under the Obama administration illegal.

The federal judge in Texas, Andrew Hanen, cited a procedural violation in the crafting of Daca – the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme – but did not order any immediate changes in enforcement actions.

Daca covers more than 600,000 young people who were brought to the US illegally as children and otherwise could face deportation to a country of birth with which they have little or no familiarity.

It has been the subject of prolonged and inconclusive political battles and repeated court fights, including a US Supreme Court ruling last year that found the Trump administration did not follow legal requirements for ending Daca.

President Biden and other Democratic party leaders, as well as major US university associations, lamented the decision by Judge Hanen and called it an added incentive for Congress to permanently end the uncertainty by creating a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

The US Department of Justice will appeal the judge’s order, and the Department of Homeland Security will work to fix the issue cited by the judge by issuing another regulation addressing Daca, Mr Biden said in a statement.

“But only Congress can ensure a permanent solution,” the president said.

The American Council on Education, the main membership grouping of US higher education, reiterated the importance of congressional action. “This deeply troubling decision will cause Daca recipients enormous anxiety and uncertainty,” the council said on Twitter.

The ruling by Judge Hanen came in a lawsuit brought by nine states led by Texas. Judge Hanen, an appointee of President George W. Bush, has been previously criticised as having an anti-immigrant stance. The judge based his decision on the technical failure to obtain public comment when President Obama created Daca in 2012.

The Daca programme requires beneficiaries to apply to receive its protective benefits, which include a reprieve from deportation, a right to work, and the ability to get a driver’s licence and some types of student financial aid.

The judge’s ruling lets US officials keep accepting new Daca applications but blocks the government from approving them.

Roughly half of the estimated 1.3 million eligible people have gone through the application process. Those eligible for Daca include about half of the 450,000 undocumented immigrants enrolled at US colleges and universities.

The US public has been shown, through polling, to be broadly supportive of permanent legal status for immigrants brought to the US as children. Both houses of Congress also have voted in favour of such plans, although without enough support to overcome the filibuster rule in the Senate, which effectively requires three-fifths votes for approval.

The Supreme Court ruling against the Trump administration came in a case brought by the University of California last year. But later that year a federal judge in New York ordered the reinstatement of Daca and the immediate resumption of new applications.

paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com