Trump administration to reject new DACA requests during ‘comprehensive’ review


WASHINGTON – The White House announced Tuesday that the United States will take steps to liquidate legal protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought into the country as children, often called “Dreamers,” as it conducts a legal review after the Supreme Court rejected to the President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA.

A senior administration official said that despite the Supreme Court decision, the White House still viewed the DACA program as illegal and that the court’s decision left room for the administration to look for other ways to end the program. The Trump administration “would limit the scope” of DACA as the administration reviews its legality, the official said.

While the program is under review, the Trump administration announced that it will reject initial applications and application fees for new filings, will consider all renewal requests on a case-by-case basis, but will limit the provision to one year instead of a two-year renewal. years. , and will reject all requests for early parole in the absence of “extraordinary circumstances.”

Trump attempted to end DACA in September 2017, fulfilling a campaign promise to end the federal program.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that the administration was unable to carry out its plan to close the DACA program because the government did not provide adequate justification for doing so. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion that it was not unconstitutional for the Trump administration to end DACA, but that the administration would need to give more detailed reasoning to end it.

Trump was furious at the Court’s ruling, tweeted that the decision was “politically charged” and said new judges were needed. He vowed to try again to end DACA.

The White House said Tuesday that it expected some legal challenges.

The Trump administration has already taken steps to curb the DACA program. Last week, the government said at a hearing in the United States District Court in Maryland that it has not “granted or rejected” DACA applications, but has instead put the program “on hold.”

The Maryland federal court ordered the Trump administration to restore DACA to its original form before Trump attempted to end it in a 2017 memo, essentially ordering the Department of Homeland Security to accept new DACA requests.

The Trump administration is evading the federal court order by issuing a new memo that replaces all previous DACA memos, the administration official said Tuesday. The White House hopes to face more legal challenges surrounding its latest changes to the program.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolfe is expected to issue the new memo Tuesday night with the details.

The DACA program was created in 2012 by then President Barack Obama as an interim measure to protect from deportation people who were brought to the United States as children and who did not have citizenship or legal residence. Protection lasts two years at a time and can be renewed. DACA does not provide a path to citizenship.

Figures show that more than 90 percent of DACA participants have a job. Almost half is at school. Many do not speak the language or know the culture of their home countries.