Court case in Texas shows DACA programme remains under peril

A federal judge in Houston will hear arguments from Texas and eight other states seeking to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, or DACA, which provides limited protections to about 650,000 people.

A Tuesday court hearing over a US programme shielding immigrants brought to the country illegally as children highlights the peril the program still faces even under an incoming Democratic president who has pledged to protect it. A federal judge in Houston will hear arguments from Texas and eight other states seeking to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, or DACA, which provides limited protections to about 650,000 people. Defending the programme is a group of DACA recipients represented by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. A ruling was not expected during the hearing.

The US Supreme Court previously ruled President Donald Trump's attempt to end DACA in 2017 was unlawful. A New York judge in December ordered the Trump administration to restore the programme as enacted by former President Barack Obama in 2012. But the Houston case directly targets DACA's original terms, as Texas and the other states argue it violated the Constitution by going around Congress' authority on immigration laws.

President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to protect DACA. But a ruling against DACA could limit Biden's ability to keep the programme or something similar in place. “DACA has to be replaced by a legislative approach,'' said MALDEF President Thomas Saenz.