Policy protecting undocumented immigrants illegal, rules US court

PTI

Washington, September 14

A federal judge in Houston has declared illegal a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, including hundreds of Indians, brought to the US as children, but noted that the government could continue to process renewals of its current recipients.

The major setback to the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme came from a ruling from US District Court Judge Andrew Hanen on Wednesday. “The court, as it did before, hereby stays the effective date of the vacatur as to all DACA recipients who received their initial DACA status prior to July 16, 2021,” the judge wrote.

“The defendants may continue to administer the programme as to those individuals and that administration may include processing and granting DACA renewal applications for those individuals,” Hanen ruled.

At the same time, Judge Hanen refrained from ordering the termination of deportation protections and work permits of nearly 5,80,000 dreamers. The White House said it is disappointed with the court’s ruling. “On day one of his administration, President (Joe) Biden issued a memorandum directing the federal government to take all appropriate actions to preserve and fortify the DACA policy,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

According to a 2019 report by South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), there are at least 6,30,000 Indians who are undocumented, a 72% increase since 2010.

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