ACLU Comment on Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling on DACA 

NEW ORLEANS — Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a 2021 District Court ruling that the 2012 DACA Memo is unlawful – an order that immediately halted grants for first-time applicants. Though the Fifth Circuit ruled the 2012 memo is unlawful, it did not order an immediate end to the program, and individuals with DACA can continue to renew for now. The court sent the case back to the district court for more proceedings on the new DACA regulation scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 31.

Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, had the following reaction:

“This incorrect ruling doesn’t take away anyone’s DACA protections today, but it allows state officials to continue their effort to end the program. As a result, Dreamers and their families will continue to live in uncertainty and fear that the limited protections they have could go away at any moment.

“Today’s ruling isn’t the last word on the legality of DACA, and ultimately its analysis should be repudiated. But Dreamers’ futures have been in limbo for far too long already. Congress must pass legislation that would provide Dreamers and other undocumented members of our communities with permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship in the country they have always called home.”