[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A federal judge in Washington D.C. issued a ruling that could potentially reopen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to first time applicants.\u00a0 The Department of Homeland Security has not accepted new applications for DACA since September 5th of last year.\u00a0 In his ruling, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, accused the decision to end DACA as arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful.\u00a0 Bates ordered DHS to begin accepting new DACA applications but is allowing 90 days to allow DHS to provide legal reasoning to end the program.<\/p>\n
Other federal judges have ordered DHS to process DACA renewals past the initial March 5th deadline, of which at least 55,000 have been processed this year.\u00a0 Those judges, however, did not order the program to reopen to new applicants.\u00a0 It is not yet known how the Trump administration will react to this latest ruling.\u00a0 Congress has not taken any actions to address DACA or protect Dreamers from deportation.\u00a0 DACA allows eligible undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses, attend school, and work in the United States legally.<\/p>\n
See the full news article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n